2021 Student Leadership Team

Over the last several weeks Year 5 students have been nominating and campaigning for a position on the school’s Leadership Team for 2021. Every Year 5 child would do an amazing job as a leader. We have been talking about leadership and what it looks like.The message that I have been highlighting is that you do not need a badge to be a leader and I will be looking to Year 6 next year to assist me in leading the school. Well done to everyone who put their hand up in some way. To those who missed out, don’t let this setback define you as a person – because it shouldn’t.

Top Ten Leaders for 2021 (in no particular order)

Georgie D, Naomi M, Alex B, Alma G, Sophia K, Flinn S, Luke M, Benji M, Lennox S, Nick R.

House Captains for 2021

Angophora – Jacqui M & Campbell W

Banksia – Rebecca L & Vivaan M,

Grevillia – Jordan M & Manning J

Melaleuca – Elizabeth M & Jimmy W

Performing Arts Captains for 2021

Band – Hannah Q & Ayanna S

Choir – Clementine I & Ethan S

Dance – Rushan K & Nate A

Strings – Rhia D & Eden K

Staffing Update

Congratulations to Miss Kristen Maginnis who has been appointed Assistant Principal at Pennant Hills PS via merit selection. Miss Maginnis is very familiar with our community and comes to our school with a wealth of experience. Miss Maginnis is currently relieving Assistant Principal at Chatswood PS. She is very excited to be joining our school and we are looking forward to her joining our team and driving the school forward. She will start with us at the beginning of next year. Thank you to all the panel members for being a part of this important process.

Miss Tori Paterson will be leaving us at the end of the year. Miss Paterson has accepted a temporary position closer to home in the eastern suburbs. We wish her the very best of luck and thank her for her commitment to our community over the last two years.

Stage 2 Excursion

Last week Stage 2 visited Botany Bay National Park as part of their studies on The First Fleet. The weather was perfect for both days and the students learnt a lot about Australia’s history. Thank you to all the teachers for making the day possible.

Covid-19 Student Summer Packs

As we come closer to the end of the school year, we’d like to extend our thanks to you, our parent community, for demonstrating so much resilience and patience towards the circumstances we faced together. We strived together to get the best outcomes for our students despite the pandemic and you have stayed by our side the entire time. Thank you again.

We will be sending a COVID-safe summer pack to each student before the year ends. The contents of the pack will help students maintain healthy hygiene practices to stay COVID-safe during the school holidays.

Here are some quick tips to help you and your families stay COVID-safe during the school holidays:

• Encourage your children to use their packs whenever they leave the house
• Meet outdoors whenever possible and wear sunscreen
• Meet in small groups
• Encourage good hand hygiene practices and remind your children to cough and sneeze into their elbow
• Keep up-to-date with the latest health information by monitoring the NSW Government website External link

From all of us at Pennant Hills Public School, be safe and enjoy the school holidays.

Staff Gifts

In this section I do not intend to offend, however, in light of recent media reports I thought it best to remind you. There has been some media attention about gifts from families to teachers. There has always been a policy on this as we are public employees and are open and transparent with all our dealings. In most circumstances teachers are expected to decline a gift that is not token in nature. Staff are not able to accept money, or pre-paid debit cards as these are considered to be very similar to cash. Please do not be offended if a staff member declines a gift, they are following policy. Staff are able to accept gifts of gratitude under $50.

Principal’s Pizza Lunch

The last Principal’s Pizza lunch for this year will take place on Tuesday 15 December. All students able to have a Principal’s Pizza Lunch need to have their awards in to the school by Thursday 10 December. Any awards brought in after this day will have to wait until next year.

Thank You

Kind Regards

Mr Matt Pinchbeck

Principal

Principal Awards

K-2 = Henry H, Millie V, Kieran H, David H, Kaya G, Angus M,

3-6 = Sophie M, Chloe X, Chloe K

Celebration of Learning 2020

Full School uniform is compulsory for all students for the Celebration of Learning Assemblies.

Thursday 3 December K-2 students – full school uniform

Friday 4 December 3-5 students – full school uniform

Due to ongoing NSW Department of Education Covid-19 guidelines, this year’s Celebration of Learning will look very different. The Celebration of Learning will take place in our school hall on the K-2 site. To meet all guidelines the following strategies will be in place.

• K-5 – one family member for a student receiving an award will be able to attend – families will be notified via mail.
• Year 6 – one family member per student as these assemblies will be in class groups.
• Parents will be allocated seats and all parents must remain seated for the entirety of the assembly.
• There will be a Zoom link for each assembly to allow other family members to view from home.

The times are:

Thursday 03 December                               Friday 04 December

9:30am – Kindergarten                                9:30am – Year 3

10:30am – Year1                                         10:30am – Year 4

12:00pm – Year 2                                        12:00pm – Year 5

Wednesday 16 December

9:30am – 6M

10:30am – 6P

12:00pm – 6B

Thank you for your ongoing support at this tricky time.

Stage 2 Excursion to Botany Bay

I had the pleasure last Tuesday to accompany Year 4 on their excursion to Bare Island, La Perouse. We had a wonderful day exploring, looking at the history of the island and surrounding areas.

Captain Cook first spotted the area now known as Bare Island in 1770, and referred to it in his journal as 'a small bare island'. The fort was built in the early 1880s to protect Sydney's back door. It was in operation until 1908, after which time it became Australia's first war veterans' home.

Year 3 had their day on Thursday. All students were well behaved and enjoyed their day. Thank you to Miss Hansel for your organisation and the Year 3 and 4 teachers for a wonderful day.

Kindergarten Bush Christmas Incursion

Kindergarten had a lovely day yesterday creating Australian Bush Christmas Craft. All students participated in stories, songs being introduced to Australian Animals and their habitats.

Thank you, Ms Parras, and the ES1 teachers.

Thank You

Kind Regards

Mrs Melissa Griffith

Relieving Deputy Principal

KD – Krisav P, Grace A, Vanya M, Sidney M, Xavier D

KH – Toby S, Joanna W, Evie B, Chelsea S, Matthew R, Grace G

KP – Marnie H, David H, Henley W, Logan S

K/1R – Marcus T, Adrian X, Amy M, Toby H

1D – Emilija L, Esandu P, Joshua A

1E – Leonardo D, Ethan D, Fred K, Grace P, William P, Pippa C

1S – Tyler D, Kieran H, Amira R, Eleanor T, Jayden S, Olivia Y

1/2H – Calvin S, Jade T, Isaac L, Emily W, Amelie M, Ashley H 

2C – Lachlan P, Audrey M, Sotorios J, Heart S, Gemma D, Zachary C

2M – Lucas B, Dakshita S, Sasha S

2W – Hannah R, Georgia B, Sean M, Kay M, Angus M, Stuart W

COMPUTERS  – Richard M - KP, Grace A - KD, Millie V - 1S, Ella K - 1/2H, Ethan C - 2C, Willow H - 2W, Ruben B - KH, Toby H-G - K/1R, Sam T - 1E, Emma C - 1S, Jasper C - 1/2H, Audrey M - 2C

EAL/D – Jasper B - 1D, Sean M - 2W, Keyan P - KP

Last week, Stage 2 went on an excursion to Kamay Botany Bay National Park in the La Perouse area. We have been studying British Colonisation and the History of Australia’s First Peoples in class so it was great to consolidate the students’ learning by visiting a place that is of such significance in Australia’s history. During the excursion, students re-enacted the journey and arrival of the First Fleet, learnt about the French explorer’s visit to Australia just days after the British arrived, the history of the Bare Island Fort and the lifestyle of Indigenous Australians before Colonisation. The students were very excited to share what they already knew whilst learning lots of new inside information from the terrific guides from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services. Please see below some reflections from the students detailing the great day we had!

‘The first activity was acting, there were the convicts, the marines and Captain Arthur Phillip. I got to dress up as a convict. I stole one loaf of bread and my friend stole bread and an apron, she got sentenced to 7 years jail but I got sent for life! How fair is that?’ 

Lauren N - 3B

‘Our guide told us all about the Bare Island Fort. We looked at the biggest cannon in the fort which weighed 18 tonnes. Our guide said that people who fired the cannons would block their ears and that when it went off they would yell to protect themselves from going deaf.’ 

Daniel C - 3B

‘The first place Steve took us was to a room with lots of plants in the middle. Steve talked about all of the different ways the Aboriginal people used the plants like for medicine and food.’

Julia V - 3R

‘This has definitely been one of my favourite excursions and I loved seeing all of the features in the Bare Island Fort. I rate this excursion a 10/10!’ 

Gemma P - 3R

Kind Regards

Stage 2 Teachers

Sensory Poem by Emma Y (6M)

The green eyed monster - 

An Ivy green monster, its eyes glittering emeralds

Growing, growling, howling

The taste of guilt ties my tongue, making my stomach squirm

The queer sensation of hate gnawing at my insides

The smell of my own sweat and fear, bristling with envy

Jealousy.

A confession - 

A tickling in my stomach

A flushing in my cheeks

A fumbling, tripping word

A fuzzy warm envelopment

Then happiness

Endless happiness

Love.

The aftermath - 

I’m floating

Ever floating

Feathery air coats my skin

Then brightness

Everlasting brilliance

The light is pulling me onwards

I’m tumbling, twirling, swirling around

And then it's gone

All of it

Gone. 

Please note the following Scripture and Ethics classes will be returning next year. The students will be placed into their nominated Scripture classes as per 2020.

Anglican

Baptist

Catholic

Ethics

Hindu

Uniting

Many thanks to all of the Scripture and Ethics teachers who have volunteered their time to teach the students in their chosen classes.

Ms Trish Parras                                       Mrs Tracy Reid                                                       

K-2 Scripture Coordinator                     3-6 Scripture Coordinator

The COMMUNICATIONS Team   NEEDS YOU!

The P&C’s Communications Group is looking for interested parents who can assist with sharing information, networking and event planning in 2021. The P&C is a volunteer organisation and our Comms Group would welcome anyone who can assist us in any capacity – whether it’s coordinating one of the many initiatives on our calendar, promoting the events or just assisting on the day. Please contact us now at phppandc@gmail.com if you can help!

GREEN TEAM UPDATE

Did you know: Hornsby Council’s recycling centre at Thornleigh is now accepting polystyrene! So next time you have some polystyrene packaging material – don’t put it in the red bin (which is where it goes otherwise), put it in your car boot and drop it off next time you are near Sefton road.

Confusion with polystyrene: Some polystyrene materials such as foam cups, trays or foam packaging are marked with this symbol. This symbol is part of the Plastic Identification Code. This should not be confused with the GENERAL recycling symbol which is just the three chasing arrows.

The recycling centre also accepts a number of other wastes for recycling – some of which include paint tins, old CDs, electrical waste, motor oils, ink cartridges, fluorescent lights, old fire extinguishers. Find out more here:

https://www.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/property/waste/recycling/a-z-waste-and-recycling-guide

FREE RECYCLING CADDIES:  The recycling centre is currently giving away yellow recycling caddies to any resident of single unit dwellings.  These are small caddies designed for use to store recyclables inside the home.  These have already been distributed to medium and high density dwellings in the shire to make it easier for unit dwellers to collect their recyclables inside. Contact them to pick yours up!

FAIRY LIGHTS STILL WANTED PLEASE!

We still need lots of fairy lights to make a very special “Enchanted Evening” for the Year 6 Farewell 2020. If you can spare some for a few days, please label them clearly and drop them into 33 Ramsay Road, Pennant Hills (there will be a plastic tub outside the door). Lights will be returned to you after the farewell. Thank you!

Our final P&C Meeting of the year will be Tuesday 1 December at 7.30 pm via Zoom.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81367742593?pwd=aGtueUd0UkFoRUNwWkdKV2ptZHAvZz09

Meeting ID: 813 6774 2593

Passcode: 579345

If you would like to subscribe to our P&C meeting emails (minutes and agendas),

please subscribe at the following link: http://eepurl.com/dlK3PD

Andrew Passé-de Silva

President, PHPS P&C

pandcpresident@gmail.com

0410 653 878

Hornsby Busking:

Our first busking session at Hornsby Westfield went wonderfully, and we were able to raise $244 for the Australian Children's Music Foundation (http://www.acmf.com.au).

Our second group of students will be performing this Sunday 6 December between 11am-1pm . If you're in the area feel free to come on down and show your support!

2021 Training Band: 

A big thank-you to all the students who have submitted their band forms, and attended the blow test last week. We really appreciate you spending the time to come and that your children are interested in learning an instrument. You should have by now received an email with a Band Offer. If everyone could reply to this by  7 December we'd really appreciate it.

It's not too late to still fill in a form! Any children going into years 3-6 in 2021 are welcome.

If your child is interested in learning an instrument we'd really like you to fill in the form here.

The more students we have in the band program the better the band sounds!

Just know that since instrument offers have already been sent out there are limits on what we can offer to late applications.

If you did not get a copy of the Intro to Band handout, you can find it here. 

If you'd like more details please contact us at phpsband@gmail.com

Christmas Carols Video Recordings:

This week we will be doing recordings in the Hall during normal morning rehearsal time.

Wednesday morning - ICB the entire band is to arrive at 7:20am to help setup. 

Thursday morning - SCB the entire band is to arrive at 7:20am to help setup.

Friday morning - TB the entire band is to arrive at 7:30am to help setup.

Please ensure you're on time, we do not have a great deal of time for these recording sessions and need to leave time at the end to pack up.

Solo Days:

Week 9 will be Solo Days!

The idea behind this is to allow your children to show off to the rest of the band what they've learnt throughout the year by playing a solo to get them used to performing in front of an audience (something we've not really had the chance to do this year).
The  music piece may be something they've been working on with their tutor, a piece from an AMEB exam, or even a piece from the Red or Blue workbook.
Please have a chat with your child about this and encourage them to play something. However, this isn't something they should stress over if they don't wish to participate. It's not something we will enforce. Please send an email to Rose, Dave or myself if they want to participate.

Worksheets:

We are very close to the end of the year and want to make sure we can get any Bronze, Silver or Gold awards handed out before school finishes. So please take photos of them and send through all completed worksheets (or AMEB results) to phpsband+worksheets@gmail.com

Parent Helpers:

Massive thanks to Jade C, Bec S, Shireen S and Al M for being our parent helpers this week. It is very much appreciated, especially since we will be doing the Video Recordings for Christmas Carols.

Thank You

The Band Committee

phpsband@gmail.com

Website: http://www.phpspandc.org.au/band/

Pennant Hills Public School Band Committee

The Final Countdown!!

There are only 11 canteen days left this year!!

You will start to see some items listed as “out of stock” on Flexischools as we try to limit the amount of stock left over the holidays. Some items may also pop up on different days, so keep a lookout for your favourites.

Jenni Manning and Jacqueline MacDowell are both helping in the canteen for the last time this week, as both of their youngests are moving on to high school next year. Thank you so much for your years of faithful service to our canteen. We will miss you!!

The canteen is in serious need of some new volunteers for next year. Even if you can only spare an hour or so it will be a huge and welcome help. 

We have been getting more and more orders, which is fantastic, and we are very grateful for the support, especially in this very strange year. However, more orders means more work, and as a P&C canteen we rely heavily on volunteers.

No experience is required and our canteen is a friendly and fun place to be, if I do say so myself. Please contact me if you are interested. I would love to hear from you.

Thank You

Heather Tyler

0425 274 681

canteenphps@gmail.com

New Operating Protocols

The Uniform Shop will remain closed for over the counter sales during Term 4. Uniform orders can be placed online through Flexischools or alternatively download an order form from the school website.

Please note that all orders will be delivered to the students’ classroom.

The Uniform shop will reopen, for appointments only, to new families who require a fitting, and for those parents wanting to purchase second hand uniforms or parents who have an item that needs to be exchanged for another size.

Please contact the Uniform Shop on the email address below to arrange an appointment on a Monday, Tuesday or Thursday morning between 9am and 10.30am. All those attending an appointment will need to sign in at the 3-6 office prior to attending their appointment in the Uniform Shop.

Boys’ Socks

The boys’ sock indent order has arrived today, so all sizes are now back in stock and available for sale. All outstanding orders will be filled this week.

Boys’ Summer Shirts

Size 4, 14 and 16 boys short sleeve shirts have sold out. Midford is still experiencing delays out of China, and is not expecting new stock to arrive until December. I apologise for any inconvenience caused by this stock shortage.

Year 2 2021 House Colours

Year 1 parents please note that orders for the coloured sports dots are due this Friday 4 December. The coloured house dots can also be ordered via Flexischools, but prices will include the Flexischools’ surcharge. All orders will be delivered to the students’ class during December in readiness for 2021.

Second Hand Uniforms

If you are leaving the school at the end of the year and have any uniforms in good condition that you no longer require please consider donating them to the Uniform Shop.

Hours For 2021

The last day of trading for 2020 will be Tuesday 15 December.

At this stage it is hoped that the Uniform Shop will be able to resume normal operating hours in 2021. In anticipation of the further easing of Covid-19 restrictions I wish to advise that the Uniform Shop will reopen on the following dates and times in Week 1, Term 1, 2021:

Thursday 28 January, Staff Development Day: 8.45am – 10.45am

Friday 29 January, Years 1-6 students return: 8.45am – 10.45am

Hours will revert to normal the following week.

Monday 1 February: 8.45am – 10.45am

Tuesday 2 February: 8.45am - 10.45am

Thursday 4 February: 3.00pm – 4.00pm

Dr Shoe

Max can be contacted direct on 0414 912 838 to arrange a home fitting.

Ordering Uniforms

Uniform shop opening hours have been suspended. Uniforms can be ordered by completing an order form and together with payment of cash, cheque or card details handed in at either office.  Orders will be filled and delivered to the students’ classrooms. A combined pricelist and order form can be downloaded from the school website by following the links to ‘Our School’ and ‘What We Offer.’ Uniforms can also be ordered online through Flexischools, however prices will include a Flexischools surcharge.

Please note that uniform orders cannot be paid via the school online payment service.

Order forms are available on the school website by following the link:

 https://pennanthil-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/p/pennanthil-p/about-our-school/uniform-shop/Term_4_2020_Order_Form_and_Price_List.pdf

 Alison Parker

Uniform Shop Manager

phpsuniformshop@gmail.com