St Ives Park Public School eNewsletter

8 August 2022

Newsletter Articles

August PBL Focus
Principal’s Message
COVID 19 2022 – Term 3 Updates
Assistant Principal’s Message
Peer Support
ICAS
Library
Eco Club
Band
Notes from the school office
P & C
Community

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akwU9F2jef8

August PBL Focus

Take care of school equipment. Put things where they belong.

Principal’s Message

Education Week 2022 – Creating Futures

Families and friends proudly supported our SIPPS students and participated in the challenging mathematical classroom learning sessions, were entertained by the choir, bands and K-2 performances, prior to a delightful picnic morning tea.

We were most fortunate that we had a sunny and happy morning with significant parent attendance at this year’s event.

SIPPS School Uniforms

Our school P&C host a well-supplied and organised uniform shop which supports our community to ensure students are in the correct uniform each day at school. All students should be in their full Winter uniform at this point in the term, including black closed in school shoes on non-sports days (Monday, Wednesday and Thursdays) and correct school jackets. Don’t forget raincoats on those rainy days.

In the last two weeks of term, from 12th September, students are able to wear their Summer or Winter uniforms depending on the weather conditions as these last two weeks can be quite changeable.

Road safety on Acron Road

Safely crossing the road with your child sets them up for success when crossing the road alone as they get older. Parents are the most important models for their children in this regard. Please use the pedestrian crossing with your child each morning and afternoon when escorting your child/ren to school.

We have received complaints from members of the community that parents are standing around the pedestrian crossing access points which is causing confusion for motorists. There was almost an accident on Friday afternoon and I would like to remind parents to please cross safely using the formal pedestrian crossing rather than running in front of cars when they deliver or exit the school on school days.

Enrolments 2022 – Message to all parents

Each year all NSW Public Schools are asked in August to indicate their anticipated enrolments for the following school year. This means parents need to inform the school that their child will be returning to St Ives Park Public school in 2023.

This year all parents are again asked to indicate if their child will or will not be returning to SIPPS in 2023. This year the form will be provided to all parents online via School Bytes.

This is vitally important for the school to be able to identify numbers of student for 2023. We receive our teacher allocation according to the numbers of students who are enrolled in our school. Please complete the online form by 9th September, 2022.

Technology Upgrade @SIPPS

The Department of Education has advised that we will be one of the first Northern Sydney Region schools to receive a technology upgrade for internet services. Between weeks 7 – 10 this term there will be upgrades to internet infrastructure and re-cabling work undertaken at SIPPS. While there will be some disruption between 29th August and 23rd September, we look forward to a really positive result with upgraded connectivity early in Term 4.

School Access via Gate 1

We have received news that the school will receive an upgrade to Gate 1 access in line with other local schools. The scope has been undertaken and the planning is now with DoE School Security prior to tender. I will keep you up to date with further information as I receive it through official channels.

Student Leadership

In 2022, our students are participating in a range of opportunities to demonstrate their initiative and leadership across a range of platforms. Students from Years 2 to 6 participate as class representatives in the Student representative Council and students may also opt to lead or participate in the SIPPS Eco Club. In Term 2, many students participated in the Ride to School Week hosted by the SRC. In Term 3 one initiative to start soon is the Eco Club’s container collection which will commence next week (15th to 19th August). Please see their message in this newsletter.

Students also have an opportunity to share their ideas in the Suggestion box in the office. Suggestions will be viewed by myself and shared with the SRC for discussion and planning when appropriate. We have already received our first suggestion last week and look forward to many more.

Our SRC in the coming weeks will start focus groups with randomly selected students to hear about SIPPS strengths and identify ideas for further improvements from a student’s perspective. (A similar survey was undertaken with SIPPS parents at the end of Term 2). I look forward to hearing from our students through these group conversations.

Professional Learning

Staff from SIPPS and Terrey Hills Public Schools joined last week for ongoing collegial learning. Staff are upskilling in their use and analysis of reading data to assist with planning and implementing activities for student learning. We will meet again in Week 7 this term.

Father’s Day Events

Our SIPPS P&C are already underway in the planning for the Father’s Day stall on the 31st August and the Father’s Day breakfast from 7:30am on September 2nd. We look forward to welcoming our Fathers or Special friends to school that morning with their children. Check the P&C information section in the newsletter for further information.

P&C Meeting – 10th August

Please join us for the P&C meeting on Wednesday evening 7:15pm in the library. Entry via Gate 2 from 7pm. Hope to see you there.

Term 3

11th August 3-6 Book Week Guest visit – Nat Amoore
18th August Canteen Special Lunch Day
15th – 19th Eco Club – 10c container challenge – Have you collected the containers?
25th Aug Book Parade and Book Fair T3 W6 2:15pm
26th Aug SIPPS P&C Disco
31st Aug Father’s Day Stall
2nd Sept Father’s Day Breakfast
6th September Kindergarten Teddy Bear’s Picnic for students
7th to 9th September Canberra Stage 3 Excursion
9th September Online 2023 enrolment confirmation due
15th September School Tour 9:20 – 9:50am
19th September – SRC Talk Like a Pirate Day
20th September SIPPS Spectacular
24th September School Holidays commence

Regards,
Caroline English

Dates to Diary

No Upcoming Events

COVID 19 2022 – Term 3 Updates

Covid Settings to start Term 3

This provides you with an overview of how the DoE is working with schools to continue to ensure schools remain COVID-safe throughout this term.

As we continue to prioritise student and staff learning and wellbeing while at school, our layered COVID-smart measures will continue for Term 3. These ‘baseline measures’ are aligned to the NSW Government’s general community settings and include:

students staying home and getting tested if unwell, and only attending school when symptom free
strongly encouraging mask-wearing for all staff and students, particularly in the first 4 weeks of term
rapid antigen testing for symptomatic students and staff, and close contacts attending school to learn and work
strongly encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations for students, staff and their families, including a booster shot (when eligible)
strongly encouraging students, staff and their families to get a flu vaccination
strict requirements for close contacts attending school - you must notify the school if your child is attending school as a close contact.
good hygiene practices
maximising natural ventilation
boosted cleaning during the day, with particular attention given to high touch surface areas
responding to local COVID-19 conditions when necessary, by working with the department’s Health, Safety and Staff Wellbeing team.

Continuing these baseline COVID-smart measures allows us to prioritise student and staff wellbeing while giving our learners a consistent and productive learning environment this term.

What’s new in Term 3?

As winter continues, our COVID-smart measures have been updated in consultation with NSW Health to provide appropriate protection to our school community.

Vaccinations. The department has updated its policy regarding COVID-19 vaccination for employees following an independent risk assessment of school (and corporate) settings and consultation with unions and relevant stakeholders. While vaccination will no longer be a requirement for our staff from 1 August 2022, it is pleasing to see that a recent survey highlighted that more than 99% of the department’s active school-based workforce have had at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. We will continue to strongly encourage all our staff to keep up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations as a way of protecting themselves, students, and our school community.

Boosted day cleaning. The department has made a slight change to its cleaning process. Cleaning of school sites will now be more concentrated during the day, with an increase in cleaning in school hours, and a subsequent reduction out of hours. Boosted day cleaning will continue to focus on high-touch areas and other hard surfaces, door handles, lockers, light switches and handrails in stairways and movement areas.

What’s continuing for Term 3?

Masks. Masks are an effective way of minimising the transmission of respiratory viruses and infections, and protecting our community, especially those who are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and flu. We strongly encourage all students and staff wear a mask for the first 4 weeks of Term 3, particularly in indoor settings or when distancing is not possible.
The latest NSW Health advice also recommends wearing a mask for people who have recovered from COVID-19 and recently completed their 7-day isolation period for an additional 3 days (from days 8 to 10 after receiving a positive COVID-19 result).
Additionally, as outlined in the below section on close contacts, mask wearing is mandatory for staff and high school students returning to school as close contacts for 5 school days and strongly recommended for primary school students returning to school as close contacts for 5 school days.
Rapid antigen tests (RATs). The department will send another round of RATs to our school early this term, which we will provide to you in the form of 1 multipack of 5 RAT kits per student. These RATs can be used as required for symptomatic testing, such as if your child is displaying even mild symptoms. Once these department-supplied RATs are exhausted, please continue to access store-purchased RATs which are now readily available in the community or PCR tests. Alternatively, let the school know that you need more and we will try and assist if possible. Additionally, our school will be maintaining a reserve stock of RATs onsite to support symptomatic testing in the event of an outbreak in our school community. Please also remember that positive RAT results must be registered with ServiceNSW, and students who test positive to COVID-19 must not attend school until their isolation period ends and they are symptom free.
Close contacts. Students identified as close contacts remain able to attend school providing:
   - they are symptom free,
   - notify the school and
   - return a negative COVID-19 test result daily for 5 consecutive school days.
Additionally, secondary students are required to wear a mask for 5 consecutive school days (except when eating/drinking or exercising). Primary students, while not required, are strongly encouraged to wear a mask for 5 consecutive school days (except when eating/drinking or exercising). Please note that students identified as close contacts are still unable to attend overnight excursions, including camps. Visitors identified as close contacts who are engaging directly with students are required to return a negative COVID-19 test result before attending our school and wear a mask.
Responding to our local situation. We will continue to liaise with NSW Health and the department’s Health, Safety and Staff Wellbeing Case Management team to ensure our COVID-smart settings keep up with the latest developments. If local conditions require it, this may mean reintroducing temporary additional COVID-smart measures to act as a ‘circuit breaker’, including:
   o mandating mask wearing for all staff and students in Year 7 and above (high school settings)
   o mandating mask wearing for all staff (primary school settings)
   o postponing or limiting non-essential activities like excursions, indoor assemblies and visitors to the school
   o directing cohorts to learn remotely for short periods of time.
Maximising natural ventilation. The department has reviewed environmental differences across NSW as part of their winter ventilation planning to ensure that local climatic conditions at each school are considered. The department will continue to provide local guidance to schools, including advice on maximising natural ventilation while balancing thermal comfort and the use of indoor and outdoor learning areas for school activities to support schools to adapt to local climate conditions throughout the winter months.
Reducing the risk of illness this winter. Finally, it is important to note NSW Health’s advice to reduce our risk of not only COVID-19, but other illnesses that may affect our school at this time of year such as the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) , both of which can be serious in younger people. We can all protect our loved ones and our community by:
   o staying home and getting tested if unwell or displaying any symptoms
   o keeping up to date with our vaccinations – including the flu vaccine, which is available from your local GP, pharmacy or Aboriginal Medical Service now
      - flu vaccines are free for all children aged 6 months to under 5 years, or for a small charge for those aged 5 years and older
   o getting tested immediately for COVID-19 if you become symptomatic and isolating until you receive a negative result and are symptom free
   o practicing good hand hygiene by washing regularly with soap and water
   o taking a RAT before visiting vulnerable loved ones or going to large gatherings and events.

With these updated settings in place, we hope to have a happy and healthy Term 3.

Assistant Principal’s Message

Attendance

We appreciate parents and carers who are following the current protocols, where if your child has had covid like symptoms they are to be kept away from school. Please be mindful that when your child is well they need to be at school. It is a DOE requirement that we as a school keep parents informed of their child’s attendance percentage at the point it becomes a concern.

Letters have been forwarded to those families to whom this applies.

Child Protection

As part of the PDHPE syllabus, this term all of our K-6 students will take part in child protection lessons. This is a personal safety program designed by DoE to equip children with the knowledge and skills to act in ways that reduce the likelihood of abuse occurring and help them to recognise healthy and unhealthy relationships. The program includes teaching strategies for building respectful relationships and resilience, building skills in recognising and responding to unsafe situations, effectively seeking assistance and protective strategies appropriate to student age and stage of learning.

Reading, Vocabulary and Comprehension

What is vocabulary?

Vocabulary refers to the words we must know and understand to communicate effectively. It is the knowledge of words and word meanings. Reading vocabulary refers to words we recognise or use in print. The words we need to know to understand what we read.

Why is vocabulary important for reading instruction?

Vocabulary plays an important role in word recognition. A student is more likely to be able to read a word if they find a match between the word on the page and a word they have learnt through listening and speaking. This also supports them to read related words.

Vocabulary is also the key to reading comprehension. Readers cannot understand what they are reading without knowing what most of the words mean. As children learn to read more advanced texts, they must learn the meaning of new words that are not part of their oral vocabulary.

How can parents and carers help children learn and use new vocabulary?

For younger students, use home reading time to discuss unknown vocabulary and how it relates to the text. Families with older children will be able to discuss vocabulary found in more complex texts, especially where a word has more than one meaning, eg. Blue.

Kind regards,
Leanne Hayllar and Alison Wright

Peer Support

This semester students will be participating in the Peer Support Program. Year 6 students lead a small group of students from Kindergarten to Year 5 through structured lessons. The program fosters relationships between students across grades as well as offering opportunities to practise a range of social skills. The theme for this year’s sessions is living positively, with a focus on optimism. Students will work through games and activities centring around; growth mind set, identifying and developing strengths and perseverance.

During this week’s lesson, groups enjoyed getting to know each other and finding out about the Peer Support Program. They talked about what optimism means and how to work well in a group.

Our Year 6 students did a wonderful job of facilitating sessions.

ICAS

ICAS TEST DATES

This is a reminder that the ICAS tests will begin next week. Please see the schedule below.

Students who are registered and have paid for the specific tests will need to be at school at 7:50am on the morning of their test.

Please enter the school using Gate 2, near the hall.

The gate will be closed, but it will be unlocked. Please open the gate by lifting the bottom latch and close the gate behind you.

Proceed to the spare Stage 3 upstairs classroom (next to the art room) and wait there.

All test students need to bring a pencil.

The test takes approximately 45-50 minutes to complete.

The dates of the tests:

Digital Technologies	Thursday, 11 August 2022
English	Thursday, 18 August 2022
Science	Thursday, 25 August 2022
Maths	Thursday, 1 September 2022

Regards,
Adrienne Reid
ICAS coordinator.

Library

Deborah Abela Author Visit

Stage 2 and 3 welcomed well known Australian Children’s author, Deb Abela, to SIPPS on Friday 22nd July. Deb was an entertaining and engaging speaker who shared lots of valuable hints about writing with the students.

Deb’s new book, The Book of Wondrous Possibilities was brought to life with the great acting skills of Ellie, Chelsea and Jo in a Reader’s Theatre performance with Deb as the narrator. Ryan and Aryan were extremely competent in dealing with the technical side of the visit as well.

Deb was very impressed with the positive behaviour of all the SIPPS students throughout the session.

Virginia Allman
Teacher Librarian

Eco Club

The Eco Club leaders are hosting a 10c challenge for students to collect as many containers as possible and bring them to school on Friday 19th August.

The challenge will run between the 15th and 19th of August. The Eco Club are challenging you to collect as many 10c containers as possible. Containers must have the 10c label on them to be counted.

There will be first and second prizes for the students who collect the most containers.

Thank you,
Lizzie and Beth
Eco Club Leaders

Band