20 February 2023

Newsletter Articles

February PBL Focus

Follow teacher and leader instructions. Sing our school song and national anthem with pride. Stand and/or sit silently and still.

Principal’s Message

Swimming Carnival

It was a great day at the swimming carnival last Monday. The cheers were louder than usual and our House Captains were excellent role models. Our students gave their all in the races, persisting and demonstrating determination to achieve their best.

It was a wonderful day and great organisation by Mrs Taylor for the event. Mrs Bode was a sensational technical guide and support for all the swimming regulations. The carnival was a great success due to these two ladies. Thank you to Mr Duncan for the great action shots which were on Facebook and Instagram last week.

Parent Information Evening

Tomorrow night, Tuesday 21st February, is the Parent information Evening where the teachers provide key information and organisation to parents for all the classes. This is an opportunity for you to hear from your child/ren’s new class teacher/s and learn about NSW curriculum, important school/class routines, opportunities and expectations.

The timetable for this evening will be as follows:

5:00 pm Stage 1 with Miss Tippett and Miss Goodwin
5:30 pm Kindergarten with Mrs Wright
6:00 pm Stage 2 with Mrs Cipollone and Mrs Field
6:30 pm Stage 3 with Mrs Hayllar, Mrs Taylor or Mrs Cipollone

We look forward to welcoming our parents into the SIPPS classrooms. For any parents unable to attend, the information slides will be uploaded to the school website by COB Tuesday 28th February.

Thank you to Mr Duncan

Behind the scenes Mr Duncan continues to capture the candid and more formal snaps which our families see on Facebook and Instagram feeds. As our P&C President he takes so much of his time to support our school at events, photo shoots with staff, welcome photos with our new Kindergarten students and all those fabulous action shots at the swimming carnival. Thanks again to Mr Duncan for his invaluable time and expertise in supporting SIPPS!

2023 Zone and Area Tennis trials

It was a wonderful experience for three of our students who recently attended the Zone Tennis trials. Congratulations to Mitch, Rhys and Andrew who represented St Ives Park at the trials. Andrew who was successful in his trials and will now represent St Ives Park PS at the Area trials on Monday 27th February.

Attendance Matters!

Education in New South Wales is compulsory for all children between the ages of six years and below the minimum school leaving age. The Education Act 1990 requires that parents ensure their children of compulsory school age are enrolled at, and regularly attend school, or are registered with the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards for home schooling. Once enrolled, children are required to attend school each day it is open for students.

Education for your child is important and regular attendance at school is essential for your child to achieve their educational best and increase their career and life options.

NSW public schools work in partnership with parents to encourage and support regular attendance of children and young people. When your child attends school every day, learning becomes easier and your child will build and maintain friendships with other children.

All children need to be at school on time each day. When your child arrives at school after the 9:10am bell your child is marked late, if this is due to the family running late for example, your child is marked late / unjustified.

Principals may decline to accept an explanation that you have provided if they do not believe the absence is in the best interest of your child. In these circumstances your child’s absence would be recorded as unjustified. Principals may request medical certificates or other documentation when frequent or long-term absences are explained as being due to illness or sickness.

Emergency evacuation and lockdown rehearsals and Bushfire planning

Rehearsing for emergency situations is vital and a requirement in all NSW Public Schools. The hurried activity and loud noises of an emergency procedure or evacuation can upset a child, particularly one who is unaware of what is happening. Regularly following the steps of an evacuation as a rehearsal is important in ensuring children and staff know what to do in the event of a real emergency. Please ensure that you discuss with your child, that at school we will rehearse emergency procedures every term.

In an emergency there will be a SchoolZine broadcast informing the school community that an evacuation is in place. Once we have relocated to the evacuation point, you will be notified when you can collect your child/ren.

In the event of a bushfire or high bushfire risk parents will be contacted via a SchoolZine app message. As the school is listed as a level 2 bushfire risk, there may be times when the school will receive information in the evening before that the school will be non-operational and parents need to make their own arrangements to care for students. Please ensure you have the SchoolZine app downloaded onto your phone and notifications enabled.

Reporting to Parents and Parent /Teacher Interviews

Schools are required to provide two written reports to families each school year. At SIPPS these are sent home in the final weeks of Term 2 and Term 4 to provide parents with a formal snapshot of how your child is progressing at that point in time.

Parent / Teacher Interviews are scheduled for Weeks 9 and 10 of Term 1 (20/3 – 31/3). After feedback and survey information in 2021 and positive feedback in 2022, interviews will continue to be for a 15-minute time slot. In the next newsletter there will be further information regarding how to book your times using the SchoolZine app.

School Targets 2023

Our school targets in 2023 continue in the areas of English and Mathematics as per the Department of Education’s strategic plan and targets set for all NSW public schools as we implement the new curriculums in K-2.

We will have a specific focus at SIPPS on the following areas:

• building engagement for students
• implementing student goal setting and effective feedback with a focus on accepting feedback, student effort, self-reflection, persistence, initiative and accepting learning challenges
• assessment: aligned to guide planning for student learning and support student achievement.

Curriculum and Policies

Student Behaviour Strategy: In 2023 all teachers are working within the new Student Behaviour Policy. This means we are reviewing practices to ensure alignment with the new policy and developing two new plans which will be shared with the P&C during Semester 1 prior to implementation for Semester 2. Staff professional learning in this area includes: Classroom Management Fundamentals, Understanding Behaviour, Understanding Behaviour Support.

All NSW curriculums have a strong focus on teaching and learning to ensure all students have an understanding of Aboriginal culture and identity, inclusive education and that all students are challenged, including high potential and gifted students.

K-2 Curriculum English and Mathematics: We are now in the implementation phase of the K-2 curriculum.

3-6 Curriculum English and Mathematics: We are now in the engage phase where the APs familiarise themselves to support planning and implementation.

Aboriginal Education and cultural awareness

All NSW DoE staff will participate in training throughout 2023 (SDD T2) to enhance our knowledge of Aboriginal Culture and practices to ensure we are able to implement the new NSW curriculums. Term 2 SDD is devoted to this training. We also have three professional learning sessions allocated to Aboriginal education policies and procedures throughout Semester 1.

School site enhancement 2023

Excitingly, there is now access to Gate 1 via intercom which is operational within school hours only. This is a wonderful enhancement for our parents and carers as well as our staff.

In 2022 our P&C commenced conversations with the local council to participate in a council led feasibility study regarding solar at SIPPS. This builds on a previous study commenced by Mr Malicki. The Department of Education have provided the preliminary statistics and required details to investigate the viability and process. The P&C and school will keep you posted on updates.

SIPPS and the P&C have planned to jointly fund a new LED school sign which will be installed within Term 1. This matter is currently with K M Council. This means that Gate 2 will be closed for a short period of time during Term 1 for all families and OOSH whilst the trenching and reinstatement of the path takes place. Parents will be informed of planning closer to the trenching time.

Looking even better! Painting @ SIPPS

By the end of Term 1 SIPPS classrooms and admin areas will be looking brighter and better. The Department of Education has scheduled painting in the coming weeks commencing Week 5 (next week). All classes and the Administration block will be affected at different points in the next month, this means some patience will be required by staff, students and families whilst this is being undertaken.

Permissions

The DoE has updated their requirements for all schools to require written permission for students to access third party online applications. This note is being formulated and will require permission to access programs such as Mathletics, Reading Eggs, SoundWaves etc. Google and MS365 align to the DoE enrolment form so are not required to have a separate permission.

Great Start to Term 1

I hope all our families have had a lovely start to Term 1 and that seems to be the feedback I have received while chatting with our students, parents and carers at the gate each morning. Remember if you have a concern, contact your child’s class teacher in the first instance for support.

Kind regards,
Caroline English

Key dates for your diaries

21/2/23 - Parent Information Evening

• 5:00pm Stage 1
• 5:30pm Kindergarten
• 6:00pm Stage 2
• 6:30pm Stage 3

27/2/23 - Monday is school photo day Week 6
27/3 – 31/3/23 - Parent Teacher Interviews – released via SchoolZine.
6/4/23 - 2:15pm – 3pm Festive and Easter hat parade – more information to follow
15 – 17/5 - Stage 3 Camp
27/6/23 - SIPPS Athletics Carnival
28/6/23 - Semester 1 Reports home to parents and carers.
31/7 to 4/8/23 - Education Week
19/9/23 - SIPPS Spectacular
27/10/23 - Grandparents Day
6/12/23 - Presentation Day

Assistant Principal

Naplan dates

Students in Year 3 and 5 will take part in NAPLAN testing this term. NAPLAN testing window begins on Wednesday 15th March and will be completed by Monday 27th March. During this time, students will participate in 4 separate assessments in Writing, Reading, Conventions of language and Numeracy. These assessments are designed to assess the literacy and numeracy skills that students are developing and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time.

Class teachers will be working with students to familiarise students with the online test platform throughout the coming weeks. This can also be accessed by parents using the following link.

Students will be required to bring their own headphones for the tests.

Kindergarten

It has been a very exciting and busy time for our youngest learners in K Ruby. Students have been learning school routines, making friends and settling into their new environment. They have started to learn the letter sounds and are blending sounds to make simple words. In Mathematics, students have been counting and sorting objects according to their attributes. Importantly, students are explaining their thoughts to the class and learning how to share their ideas. Kindy loved their first Got Game, Art and Library lessons and are moving through the school with confidence.

The Year 6 buddies have been a tremendous support to K Ruby during the first few weeks of school. The buddies make sure every Kindy student feels confident in the playground. Over the next few weeks, Kindy will become increasingly independent and seek out their Year 6 buddy only when needed.

Home Readers Stage 1

Home reading has begun for Stage 1 students reading below level 25. Each student receives a variety of decodable and levelled home readers to enjoy. Students independently change their readers. Please ensure home readers are placed inside a plastic envelope to protect them. Students reading at level 25 and beyond are encouraged to source texts from the school and local libraries. No matter what level your child is reading at, students need to be reading and be read to every day.

Crunch and Sip Containers

Please ensure your child has a small, separate container for Crunch and Sip. This needs to be entirely separate to their lunch box. Due to food allergies, lunch boxes are not taken into classrooms. Remember to label all containers.

Selective High School Entry 2024

This application process was completed by parents in 2022. The Selective High School Placement Test will be held on Thursday 4th May 2023.

Opportunity Class 2024

Applications open for Year 5 entry to an opportunity class in 2024 on Thursday 30th March. All applications must be completed online and no late applications will be accepted. Applications close on Monday 15th May.

Year 6 to 7 Transition

The process for enrolling your child into High school in 2024 will be completed online this year. More details and an online link will be sent through to parents in the coming weeks.

Leanne Hayllar
Assistant Principal

Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction (AP C&I)

I am excited delving into my new leadership role as Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction this year. I’m looking forward to continuing to work closely with our Assistant Principals to supply high quality support for teachers in Literacy and Numeracy. In K-2 we are implementing the new English and Mathematics syllabus with the first units of work being implemented in the classrooms.

Our 3-6 teachers have worked collaboratively to analyse and pinpoint areas of focus for literacy and numeracy this term, which will be embedded into their teaching and learning programs to enhance our students’ learning.

Across the school a continued focus on Rich Mathematical tasks and Number Talks is a key focus. We are continuing to work closely with Fiona Foley our MANSW Professional Learning consultant with mentoring sessions in the coming weeks.

Kylie Follows
APC&I

Learning & Support

Learning Support Teacher

My role as the Learning and Support Teacher is to provide direct specialist assistance to students in classes. Assistance is provided to students with disability, students with additional learning and support needs and their teachers.

My work emphasises:

• the needs of individual students;
• school priorities; and
• evidence-based programs to assist students with additional learning and support needs.

Learning Support uses a collaborative and consultative approach. The parent or class teacher often initiates a conversation around a child needing extra support. Sometimes the Learning Support Teacher or Principal might also start this conversation based on data from formal tests. At this initial level, concerns are discussed with the Assistant Principal of the stage and strategies of support are identified and employed in the classroom.

If, however, after a period of time, the class teacher and Assistant Principal believe that further modifications or adjustments need to be made, they will put a request in for the Learning and Support Team to consider the learning needs of your child. The Learning Support Teacher sends home requests for background information for your child and a formal statement of your concerns. The same documents are completed by the class teacher. This information then goes to the Learning and Support Team for further consideration.

If you have concerns with the learning, social or behavioural needs of your child, please speak with your child’s classroom teacher. They will treat your concerns with respect and confidentiality. The classroom teacher will also discuss your concerns with the Assistant Principal and together they will form a plan to support your child.

Warm regards,

Adrienne Reid
Learning and Support Teacher.

Sport

Swimming Carnival

On Monday we held our annual swimming carnival at the Ku-ring-gai Fitness and Aquatic Centre in West Pymble. Students from Years 3 to 6 and competitors from Year 2 travelled to the pool to participate and cheer on their friends. We had a high participation rate from our students and a tremendous amount of house spirit was on display.

Our events included 100m Freestyle, 50m Freestyle, 50m Breaststroke, 50m Backstroke and 50m Butterfly. Students demonstrated their sporting skills across all these events and showcased their sportsmanship throughout the day. It was wonderful to see the students encouraging and congratulating one another on their successes.

The day ended with our house relay, it was a close competition with Waratah being victorious.

Congratulations to all our students who competed in the carnival, it was a wonderful display of personal best.

We would like to extend a big thank you to all our parent volunteers, without them the smooth and successful running of our carnival would not be possible.

Our Zone Swimming team will be announced in the coming weeks, where students will go on to represent SIPPS at the Ku-ring-gai Zone swimming carnival at Homebush Aquatic Centre on Tuesday 21st March.

PSSA at SIPPS

Each year students in Years 3 to 6 have the opportunity to represent St Ives Park and participate in a variety of sporting competitions run through the Primary School Sports Association (PSSA). The competition is broken in Summer (Term 1 and 4) and Winter (Term 2 and 3) sports.

At SIPPS we offer League Tag as a Summer sport and Netball and Soccer as Winter sports. This year Mr Robb will be co-ordinating the PSSA program with Mrs Taylor. All students in Years 3 to 6 are welcome to trial for the sports.

Last Friday we completed our League Tag trials and selected boys and girls’ teams for both seniors (Year 5 and 6) and juniors (Year 3 and 4). The League Tag competition will start in Week 4 and run through until Week 7 before recommencing in Term 4.

In weeks 8 - 10 we will undertake trials for the winter sports of netball and soccer, ready for the competition to commence in Term 2.

PSSA is a great opportunity for students to represent SIPPS with pride and demonstrate our schools' expectations while mixing with students from a variety of schools and developing their sporting skills in a friendly competitive environment. We wish all our team's success for the start of the competition.

Amanda Taylor
Sports Co-ordinator

Art

Creative Arts - Drama News

This term all students will be involved in Drama lessons. Students in years 1-6 will be developing their knowledge of improvisation. Most students have already enjoyed their first lesson where they have worked in groups to come up with a news report. Students were tasked with coming up with a news idea and acted out different parts such as studio presenters, roving reporters and weather person. Students will continue to improvise different ideas throughout the term. Kindergarten will start out with getting involved in a variety of drama games where they will act out being different animals, characters and start to work together as a group.

Visual Art News

Visual art lessons have started with all students partaking in one hour of visual art a week, either on a Thursday or Friday. As usual I have started the year off with group artwork projects. I find the group artwork brings the new classes together and they enjoy seeing their piece of artwork put together with others to create a larger piece of art. The Term 1 group projects are as follows:

• Kindy - Our new students have started to visit the art room for weekly art lessons and have been keen to get started with creating some artwork. This term they will start to develop their understanding of pattern and line and will work on improving their fine motor skills. They have started a group piece where they have all been drawing and painting strips of paper to create a lion’s mane. Students will be developing their fine motor skills by painting, drawing, cutting and gluing throughout the term.
• Years 1 - 2 - Stage 1 students have been creating their own beautiful feathers to be put together to create a large-scale bird artwork. Students have painted their background with watercolour paints and worked on blending colours. They have then added details using coloured pencils, focusing on pattern and line. All students have created two feathers, one large and small, and the outcome is wonderful. All students should be very proud of the stunning work they have created.
• Years 3 - 6 - Stage 2 and 3 students have been introduced to the very colourful work of American artist Jen Stark. They have all been tasked with creating an individual paint drip piece of artwork which will be displayed together to create a Jen Stark inspired large scale artwork. Students were invited to use a range of different media such as oil pastels, acrylic paint or crayons. After the group project is completed, students will be moving on to further developing their understanding of cubism and how layering work can create an abstract image.

Yvonne Stone
Art Teacher

Library

Welcome back to 2023 in our SIPPS Library.

Our school is committed to helping and developing a love of reading and literature with all our students.

We have had a great start to the library year with many students already borrowing books and sharing their reading adventures.

Just a reminder thar students in K-2 need to bring a library bag to protect the library books that they borrow. Please take note of your child’s library day so everyone is ready to return, borrow and read the books from our wonderful collection.

Thank you to those students who found their overdue books in the holidays and have now returned them to the library so that other students can enjoy reading these books.

Remember to read only on the days that you eat!

Mrs Allman
Teacher Librarian

Band

It was incredible to hear the wonderful and exciting noises from the hall on Tuesday morning.

The library had Bass Guitar and Brass and Guitar lessons and the Art room - Woodwind sectionals.

Band News

Senior band commenced playing Heroes March and Cantina Band (Star Wars)

It was wonderful to see so many children bright and early. Please remind them to practice twice a week - it really helps.

Junior Band

Everyone is learning to blow the instrument and the band is learning exercise 1.

In Tutorials they learnt how to assemble the instrument and blow a note.

Some instruments take longer to make a note before commencing, however a bit of practice helps with improvement. Its early days and learning an instrument takes years to master.

Thank you, Stewart, for the wonderful photos

Contact Kate Habkouk – 0419 630 511
Kate @actionmusic.com.au

Notes from the school office

School Photos are coming!

School photos will be taken on Monday, 27 February 2023. All students will participate in their class photo and all students will have an individual photo taken regardless of whether you order or not. All orders are to be placed online, no envelopes will be sent home and cash payments are not available.

If you would like a sibling photo, a separate order it required, this is also available online.

Full summer school uniform is to be worn on this day.

School Finance

We have transitioned to a new school finance system. Term fees will be issued later this week.

Term fees are issued each term with any costs associated with programs that the school is running to support the curriculum and any excursions happening that term.

During first term we also include a voluntary whole school contribution and subscriptions for programs that your child will have access to during school time and for homework. These costs are a one off and cover the whole year. The P&C levy is also included each term. The statements are emailed out to parents and carers with an attachment explaining the fees.

The preferred method of payment is via the link sent in the email or by using the payment portal on the school website. The new parent portal (see the brochure below) is a great way to see everything that relates to your child including permission notes and payments. If you have an older sibling at St Ives High School, the one portal covers all your children.

We look forward to working with our new finance system and being able to offer a streamlined process for finance in our school.

P & C

It was great to see new and returning faces at our first P&C meeting for the year where we discussed 2023 fundraising goals and social activities, amongst other topics around getting the most out of our wonderful school. We look forward to meeting more new parents at our next meeting.

Next P&C Meeting

Wed 15 March. 7:15pm in the Library

Canteen Special Lunch Day and Reopening

The canteen will resume its usual lunchtime service from Mon 27 Feb. All orders are via the Qkr! app. The Canteen is run by parent volunteers so we need all Monday shifts filled so we can operate. This is a fun experience, please sign up for a shift or two here:

Note, you will be asked to update your profile in Qkr! at the start of each year, so we have the correct class detail for your child for Canteen and Uniform deliveries, and phone number to reach you if any order issues.

We sell very handy reusable lunch bags which make it much easier for the canteen to get your child’s lunch order back to their classroom, these can also be purchased on Qkr! in the Extra’s section.

Canteen Special Lunch Day

Meanwhile there will be a special Canteen Hotdog and Ice Block lunch day on Fri 24 Feb. Please place your order by Wed 22nd Feb.

Election BBQ and Cake Stall

BBQers, Bakers and democracy sausage voters. This is a fun community day and a great fundraiser for the P&C. Please sign up for a shift HERE and we’ll distribute cake boxes closer to the time. Save the date to come on down and buy some goodies while you vote.

Uniform Shop

The uniform shop is also run by parent volunteers, we stock all NEW uniform items, and a small selection of second-hand items. We gladly accept donations of any preloved official uniform items, to be dropped at the school office, during office hours.

New uniforms are to be ordered via the Qkr! app (see instructions attached) and will be packed every second Friday during school term (even weeks only ie week 2, 4, 6 etc). The orders will be delivered to your child’s classroom. We open for second hand sales periodically through the term (this will be announced via class chat groups).

Please email sippsuniform@gmail.com for any queries or if you need to change any sizing (items must be unworn with tags).

Order and pay using Qkr! by 8am on the delivery date (every second Friday, Even term weeks). Please ensure your child’s class details are correct for 2023.

A pair of black school shoes and a pair of sports joggers also need to be purchased separately.

Uniform type and days worn at school

Monday, Wednesday & Thursday: School Uniform.

Tuesday & Friday: Sports Uniform

Name Labels Offer

Do you need name labels for the return to school and inevitable lost property hunt? SIPPS families 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.

Communication Channels

There are a number of important communication channels to keep you on top of everything that goes on in the school:

1. The Patter is the school newsletter, please ensure the school has your up-to-date email to receive this and other vital school information.

2. P&C website

3. Class and Social WhatsApp groups – these are the key channel for teacher and P&C updates, method for you to communicate with the other parents in your class and arrange class social activities.

Signup to your relevant class and social group/s below:

Planned P&C Dates for your diaries – to be confirmed

Community

SIFC (Soccer) Registrations are now open for 2023, open to boys and girls.

Register your interest for SIFC Come and Try Day - 26th February, U6 - 3pm and U7 - 4pm.

SIFC are particularly looking for girls in the G11 and G12 age groups to form development teams ready to be entered into the Diamond League in 2024, if interested please contact cccfemales@sifc.com.au .