6 December 2021

Newsletter Articles

December PBL Focus

Responsibility in playground (focusing on school hats).

Principal’s Message

Presentation Day Assembly 2021

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

All families are invited to view the Zoom Presentation Day events at the following times:

9:30 Stage 3 and 2022 Leadership
10:45 Stage 2
12:00 K-2 students

Accessing the Event

The event will be live streamed as a Zoom webinar. To access the live stream, you must use an email address that is registered with Zoom. It is free and quick to set up a Zoom account. Please ensure you have set up your account before the day.

Listed above is the Zoom link for Presentation Day, this has been emailed to parents and will also be accessible through the school app or school calendar. The same link will be used for all Presentation Day ceremonies. Only registered Zoom account holders will be able to access the presentation. When signing into the webinar please ensure you are using the correct registered email address.

We look forward to sharing the occasion with our families, albeit in a virtual format in 2021.

Kindergarten Orientation

This Thursday and Friday morning our Kindergarten students and one parent will be attending SIPPS for their Kindergarten Orientation sessions. Please see the Assistant Principal section for further information.

Reporting Semester 2 2021

Semester 2 reports will go home to parents on Wednesday 15 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 English and Mathematics descriptors. 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 2021 reports focus on English and Mathematics and are in line with the DoE and NESA expectations in this 2021 Covid year. These are abbreviated reports due to the significant time students have spent learning from home.

It is anticipated 2022 documents will resume reporting across the 6 Key Learning Areas: English, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Human Society and It’s Environment, Personal Development, Health and Physical Education and Creative Arts.

The SIPPS Reporting survey will be released on the same day that the reports go home and will remain open for one week. We kindly request our parents take a few moments to provide feedback to guide the school’s planning and thinking for 2022 and beyond. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

2022 Classes and planning

Students in Years 1 to 6 will return to school on Tuesday 1st of February 2022.

Students will return to their 2021 classes initially until we are able to identify that all expected students have returned. We will form classes as soon possible after our Kindergarten students commence in 2022.

As we are a small school, we consider the learning needs of our students and place them into classes with the utmost care within the framework and provisions provided by the Department of Education. We cannot make promises in regard to student or teacher placement, though we do always try to listen and consider the needs of our students across the school.

Staffing News

As we finish for the 2021 year, it is with both joy and sadness that I inform the community of forthcoming staffing changes.

Miss Aliy Husband will be moving to Manly West PS. She has been a warm and energetic member of the teaching team in 2021. The students have thrived in her class. We wish her every success as she broadens her experience in her profession.

Mrs Stephanie Kekwick will be moving to the Mid-North Coast in 2022 with her husband. Mrs Kekwick has a temporary teaching position at Pacific Palms PS and is very excited about this new phase in her life as she starts teaching at a new school. Mrs Kekwick has been a long-standing temporary teacher at St Ives Park Public School. She has shared her love of learning with students across all age groups and her enthusiasm for sport and dance with many students and families. On behalf of all the staff, I wish Mrs Kekwick every success in her new role at Pacific Palms PS.

Mr Wilhelmus van Bussel has decided to retire from his position as General Assistant at St Ives Park Public School and hopes to undertake many camping and travelling adventures with his wife Anne in the coming years. Affectionately known as Mr Wim, our school grounds sparkle and have new areas developed and tended thanks to his passion and expertise. I know our community and staff will really miss Mr Wim’s expertise as we move into 2022. (This position will be advertised in 2022 subject to DoE approval.)

Year 6 Farewell - Thank you Year 5 parents

The Year 6 end of year celebration and dinner is scheduled for this evening. An enormous thank you to Mrs Reaper and Mrs Melidonis and their team of Year 5 parent volunteers who have creatively been working behind the scenes in preparation for tonight’s event at St Ives Bowling Club. We are looking forward to a lovely evening and such a special event for our Year 6 students.

P&C Election Sausage Sizzle and Cake Stall

Amazing cake donations and energy were evident at the SIPPS P&C Election Fund raising event. This was a lovely occasion for our school community to be able to catch up informally and support the school raising approximately $1800 for the P&C.

Thank you to our families for giving up their time on the day or via donations baking for the school community.

In 2021 there are several parents, who have donated their time and expertise to our school, who will be leaving this year. A special acknowledgement and thank you to Mrs Mutema, Mrs Robson and Mrs Potts who have all supported the P&C and school community over many years as their children have progressed through the school. It is through the generosity and kindness of these ladies that uniform orders are filled, canteen and band activities are offered to our students and families.

Exciting P&C news also includes the successful awarding of a grant for new bubblers for our school playground. Mr Duncan received the call from our local member of parliament with this exciting news and this project will be undertaken in 2022.

Thank you to our P&C Vice Presidents Mr Duncan and Mrs Melidonis for working hard to engage with many new members of the school community and I look forward to continuing the strong working relationships into 2022.

Happy Holidays SIPPS

2021 has again been another year where all our students and families have demonstrated flexibility during the Learning From Home months. It has taken dedication from all our families, to balance work and life commitments, with the added bonus of students learning from home for the extended period beyond Term 3 into Term 4.

As this is the last newsletter for the year, I would like to take a moment to congratulate and commend the commitment of all members of the Teaching and Administrative staff here at St Ives Park Public School. Our office staff really do go above and beyond at every turn and twist in the road. I strongly believe their passion for their roles and dedication to their profession is what sets our school apart.

Thank you to all members of the staff, school community and students for turning challenges into opportunities in 2021!

Wishing everyone a very safe, happy and festive holiday.

2022 already feels like it will be a wonderful year.

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

Assistant Principal’s Message

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

A message from Year 6

Year 6 Fundraiser/ Party Day!

Only 4 more days left to order!!

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.

Library

Library Book Reminder Notices

Students have been issued with several reminder notices for library books that need to be returned as soon as possible. Please assist your child with locating and returning these books to the Library. If you have a question regarding the reminder notice please email the school office.

Premier’s Reading Challenge 2021

Congratulations to all the students who completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge in 2021.

All students in K-2 completed the PRC at school as part of their literacy program. Each student will receive a participation certificate with their Semester 2 report.

Students in Stage 2 and Stage 3 complete the PRC independently each year. It is a voluntary reading challenge that we do promote and encourage amongst the students.

Students who complete the PRC for 4 years receive a gold certificate and students who complete the PRC for 7 years receive a platinum certificate. All other students are acknowledged with a participation certificate.

In 2021 we had 38 students complete the PRC from Stage 2 and 32 students from Stage 3. Certificates will be enclosed with the Semester 2 report.

Well done to everyone for this great achievement.

Virginia Allman
Teacher Librarian

Band

Well done to all the band students who have completed two terms of band zoom. It’s been an amazing term of on line learning. Watching James Morrison perform at the Sydney Olympics on you tube, to Kahoots Music theory games and learning Eye of the Tiger.

We wish the year 6 students all the best on your musical journey, and as musicians we never really say goodbye, just see you at the next gig.

Band Students of Senior Concert band please re register with the attached link by 18th December 2021.

New Students who would like to try an instrument and join the band in 2022, GREAT NEWS - I’m opening up my band student trials in Roseville for SIPPS parents to come down and try their child’s three preferences of instruments. Please call me on 0419630511 or email: actionmusicsales@gmail.com

Regards
Kate Ney

General Information for families

WayAhead - NSW Mental Health Association are running upcoming Small Steps - Managing Big School Anxieties webinars.

Small Steps focuses on identifying and treating common anxieties that many Kindergarten students face when starting school.

For more information about our Small Steps program please visit:

If you are interested in the public sessions there is a $5 cost per family:

When: Thursday, December 2nd at 5:00pm
Wednesday, December 8th at 12:30pm
Tuesday, December 14th at 5:00pm
Where: Online - https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/small-steps-managing-big-school-tickets-216086439357
Cost: $5 per person

Survey closing soon! Parent and carer survey on consent education

A reminder that the parent and carer survey on consent education is still open, and will close on 15 December 2021.

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

It will help the NSW Department of Education plan how it can best support consent education in school communities: including supporting parents and carers to talk about consent with their children and young people at home.

This is your last chance to complete the survey and have your say.

Parents and carers of NSW Public School students of all ages, from all communities, are encouraged to participate in the survey.

The results will be shared on NSW Department of Education website later this year. For more information about the Department’s work on consent education, please click here.

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.

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

2021 has been a great year for canteen, despite covid. As well as the Monday canteen lunch service, we have provided lunch packs for the swimming carnival and afternoon tea for the Easter Hat Parade, where our amazing school community of bakers volunteered their time and skills. Sony also led a team providing special lunches and again parents from our school community stepped up to volunteer their time.

I would like to thank the small group of amazing volunteers who gave up their time to help run the canteen throughout the year, sometimes at very short notice.

1. Pui-Ling Parsons
2. Claire Anglim
3. Leslie Hannay
4. Carrie Ann MacFarlane
5. Jess Powell
6. Bo Mee Bisnette
7. Kerry Wan
8. Fiona Crowl
9. Malinda Gardner
10. Emmy Druce
11. Stewart Duncan
12. Rebecca Cooper
13. Sonya Acton and the Easter cupcake team.
14. Sony Robson and all the special lunch team.

Lastly, a special thank you to all those children who order lunches every week. I hope to see you all back next year for Canteen on Monday lunchtimes.

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

If you are needing uniforms before the beginning of School 2022 – please place your orders BEFORE 27th January 2022 so the Uniform shop can process the order before start of school.

The Unform shop will be filling orders on Friday 28th January. They will be available from Gate 1 after 1pm on Friday.

P & C

2022 P&C Wrap:

A big thank you to all our Executive and committee members for their support and efforts throughout 2021. Thank you also to all those in the school community who have stepped up to volunteer at our events, in the Canteen and the Uniform Shop. It is such a wonderful community spirit we have, and this year the funds raised have contributed to the toilet refurbishment, year 6 farewell, class readers, teacher aids and more.

Local Election

Thank you to our BBQers, Bakers and volunteers at the Election on Sat. It was great to be back to reconnect in person and working together to raise valuable funds for our kids.

2022 Stationery Packs

We have taken the hard work out of buying all your child’s class stationery requirements. You can purchase one simple pack with everything you need through the P&C and it will be delivered in the first week back straight to your child’s class. Just jump on QKr before 26 January and buy the relevant stage for your child. (Of course, you can still purchase yourself if you prefer). See lists attached.

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.

Uniform Shop – Secondhand 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.

Tennis Courts

Currently closed until further notice.

Next P&C Meeting

Wed 16 February, 2022. 7:15pm.

Community

A message from Corpus Christi Parish St Ives.