Staffing

Within the Department of Education, employees are entitled to take what we call extended leave after the completion of 7 years of service. We have a few employees on leave at the moment, including Mr Pinchbeck for a couple of days. This creates internal movements and opportunities for educators within our school. All classes that have been impacted by these movements have been informed and we appreciate your support on these occasions. Lucky me, sitting in Mr Pinchbeck’s chair for a few days!

We are also experiencing a shortage of casual teachers. The impacts of the Covid pandemic have meant less graduate teachers able to complete their University degrees, resulting in less beginning teachers available for casual work. The Department of Education has also rolled out a Covid support program across NSW, resulting in many casual teachers taking on temporary roles within schools. Two key reasons why there is a casual teacher shortage at the moment. It is unfortunately a state-wide issue of which we have little control and we appreciate your understanding when we are forced to cancel programs such as EAL/D and Learning and Support as well as split classes, which is always a last resort. Rest assured that when classes are split, our teachers are very supportive and aim to include the students in their lessons as much as possible.

Student Lunches

All students are required to come to school with healthy food for consumption everyday or a paid lunch order. Each student should have;

• Fruit or vegetable snacks for a snack break
• Healthy recess
• Healthy lunch
• Water in a drink bottle

It is not the school or teacher’s responsibility to provide food for children in attendance, it is the responsibility of the families/carers. The Nutrition in Schools Policy states that ‘the health and wellbeing of students is relevant to their learning’. This policy contributes to the Premier’s Priority (2015) to reduce overweight and obesity rates of children by 5% over 10 years to 2025.

If you would like some ideas on building a healthy lunchbox, some inspiration, ideas and recipes, a great resource is the Cancer Council’s Healthy Lunchbox website - https://healthylunchbox.com.au

DigiTech/STEAM team update

Mrs Reid and Ms Stevens lead a group of enthusiastic teachers in the implementation of Digital Technology/STEAM across the school. Last week, they shared two videos with our P&C, one which explains what this Action Group has accomplished thus far in our School Plan and the second displaying some of the activities that the students engage in. You can view the videos below;

DigiTech/STEAM team

PHPS DigiTech

A big thank you to Aoife who put the video together – what a gem!

Around the School

This morning as I walked around many of the classrooms, there was a myriad of activity! KL were deeply engaged in a number bingo game, 1E were engrossed in their literacy groups, as were 2W and I was shown some of their PicCollages that they had made as part of their discovery of different native plants – hopefully we can harness some of this knowledge for our Native Edible Garden!

Over on the 3-6 site, Stage 2 were qualifying for the Field Events Carnival which is being held on Tuesday next week. Stage 3 were engaged in literacy sessions. 6S were creating podcasts, reading with Miss Steele, involved in spelling activities and creating Kahootz to test each other’s knowledge. 5W were analysing a passage of persuasive text to identify aspects such as the introductory statement, the argument and the conclusion and they had a great conversation about intended audience. 6M were also engaged in the planning stages of their persuasive writing around the reduction of Air Miles to improve our environment. So awesome!

Principal's Awards

K-2: Kurtis M, Sunnee G

Kind Regards

Mrs Kate Wasson

Deputy Principal

3D - Jacqui Z, Isabelle D, Ben H, Blake W, Darcy W

3H - Willow H, Dehlon P, Zoe C, Shion R, Quintin L, Sotirios J, Hannah M

3R - Stuart W, Stephanie L, Amity G, Jamie G, Charles D, Georgia B

4B - Ansh B, Julia V, Alex R, Francesca I, Logan S, Priyani B, Atticus P

4F - Kaya G, Jamie K, Sabrina W, Kaya G, Henry P, Robert H, Mana A

4M - Leo W, Lauren N, Josie A, Flynn K

5B - Lauren G, Daniel L, Jayden S, Claire A

5M - Kai L, Deanna S, Callum D, Vivian J, Ojas K, Vinessa S

5W - Alex P, Lachlan C, Quinn S, Sofia E, Munira G, Spyridon J

6R - Matthew M, Mathew M, Campbell C, Jordan M, Sophia K, Fin A

6S - Myrah C, Hafsa M, Malavika P, Manna L, Alexis Q, Kayla Y

Library - Quintin L (3H), Shion R (3H), Willow H (3H), Ryan P (4F), Luke N (5W), Matthew M (6R), Finley A (6R), Nate A (6R), 

Computers - Gemma D (3D), Annabelle T (3H), Zayd M (3H),Gabriela M (3R), Rory M (4B), Lewis D (4B), Elinore F (4M), Daniel C (4M), Katie Z (5B), Althea F (5M), Quinn S (5W), Elijah F (5W), Callum H (6M), Alma G (6R), Charle S (6R), Margareth M (6S)

Music - Sasha S (3H), Roshini K (4M), Samara M (5M), Charlie W (6S)

EAL/D - Charle S (6R), Zandre B (6S)

The 2021 K-2 Sports Day will be held on Thursday 24 June, from 11.30am onwards, on the K-2 site.

Parents are welcome to attend and a note with more information will be sent home soon.

The canteen will be doing a special lunch deal that can be ordered for the day, as well as cakes and slices for morning tea, further information will be coming.

We look forward to seeing you there for this fun day.

K-2 Sports Day Organising Team

27 July – Class Photos

29 July – Group Photos

9 August – Sibling Photos

All sibling and class photographs will be ordered online through The School Photographer. Please see the flyer below for the website and code for our school.

The Group Photo code will be in the newsletter after the photos are taken on 9 August.

Mrs Melissa Griffith 

Assistant Principal & Relieving Deputy Principal

Last Friday, Stage 3 PSSA : Pennant Hills PS v Cherrybrook PS

Netball

A: C defeated PH 41-5

B: C defeated PH 23-4

​Soccer

A: C defeated PH 2-0

B: PH defeated C 2-1​

     
Congratulations to Flinn S and Campbell W who were selected to represent Beecroft Zone at the Sydney North Rugby Union trial. Good luck!

Mr Mark Bryant

PSSA Coordinator

President’s Message

Hi All 

Last week was the PHPS Music Camp, which is a combined P&C and school arranged event. A huge amount of effort went into preparing and running the camp, a special thanks to all of the volunteers and especially Jen Whalen who led the event. There were some tired kids who arrived home on Tuesday afternoon, but no doubt they have all improved their skills.

The Band and Strings programs are a special part of the PHPS experience and they have been P&C/parent run for many years. We’re very fortunate to have a number of passionate volunteers involved in coordinating, special thanks to Mike Stalenberg and Kate Ashton for leading these committees. 

We’re also planning a music performance evening in Term 3 which will be a great opportunity for the kids to showcase their skills in front of an audience. We’ll also look to have a music information night later in the year for future musicians to learn more about each instrument and even test some of them out. Further details and dates will be confirmed in the coming months.

Have a great week

Luke

Trivia Night Save the Date - Friday 29 October

We are currently looking at venues for the Trivia Night in the local area. To ensure we book a venue that can cater for all parents who would like to attend we ask that you indicate if you’d like to attend here if you haven’t already. 

To make this event happen we need plenty of volunteers! Choose how you’d like to help (in the capacity you can manage) e.g. raffle, setting up, decorations… Volunteers Information is here

Suggestions on being more sustainable with our clothing choices

The fast fashion trend is leading to a mountain of clothing being thrown away at an alarming rate - Australians dump around 800,000 tonnes, or 31 kilograms per person, every year. About 85 percent of clothing is being dumped into rubbish bins and ends up in landfill. Together let’s step up our sustainable fashion sense!

Head down to your nearest op-shop, and seek out that next quality, hidden gem. Pennant Hills is lucky to have a Lifeline and a Vinnies, while Salvos in Westleigh is another great option. You can organise a clothing swap at your next group playdate, getting your kids involved to choose an item of clothing one of their friends might enjoy. 

Big night out? Rent, borrow, or simply refresh an existing piece, instead of purchasing clothing for just one event. We will all still need to throw out clothing and other textiles at some point, but before putting them in your red bin think of these options.

Local vets, animal shelters, and mechanics are often in need of old towels, sheets, blankets, and bedding. Our local op-shops and Thornleigh Community Recycling Centre all accept good quality clothing donations, or check out these great programs when doing a cull of your wardrobe:

• Dress For Success and Fitted For Work in Australia help disadvantaged women find work and keep it. Providing free professional attire, career mentoring and development, and transition-to-work programs.
• Shoes For Planet Earth works with local and international communities and companies to provide reused running shoes to those in need around the world. They also accept insoles and spare laces.
• Clothing Cleanup offers a pick-up service in Sydney for wearable clothing, shoes, handbags, accessories (including hats, belts, scarves), and manchester.
• The Uniform Exchange provides a free community website that looks after uniform reuse for every school in Australia.

As always contact the Green Team with your questions, comments and ideas phpsgreenteam@gmail.com 

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

Luke Whenman

President, PHPS P&C

pandcpresident@gmail.com

Heather Tyler

0425 274 681

canteenphps@gmail.com

The uniform shop is open for all sales and service with the following procedures put in place during Term 2:

Covid-19 Operating Protocols

The Uniform Shop is open for over-the-counter sales and service. 

However, all parents are required to make an appointment before attending the Uniform Shop. This is to ensure that there is no overlapping of families or crowding and queuing at the shop.

All parents will be required to sign in and register at the 3-6 office before coming to the shop for their appointment. As a result of the sign in requirements, the Uniform Shop has had to adjust its operating hours and the shop will now open on Thursday mornings instead of Thursday afternoons.

To make an appointment at the Uniform Shop please use the following link:

https://calendly.com/phpsuniformshop/15minutes?month=2021-02

Reversible Raincoats

Size 6 and 10 raincoats remain out of stock due to the manufacturer’s supply issues. New stock is expected to arrive at the beginning of Term 3. I apologise for any inconvenience caused by this stock outage.

Zip Jackets

Size 8, 12 and 14 of the summer zip jackets have sold out. New stock was due to arrive this month, but due to the lockdown in Fiji, where the jackets are made, new stock will now not arrive until the end of July. Please note that all sizes of winter polar fleece jackets are currently in stock and available for sale. 

Ordering Uniforms

Uniforms can be ordered by making an appointment at the Uniform Shop during opening hours, or alternatively an order form can be completed and together with payment of cash, cheque or card details handed in at either office. Orders will be filled and then delivered to the children’s classes. 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 the Flexischools’ surcharge.

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

Order forms are available on the Uniform Shop page of the school website or by using the below link: https://pennanthil-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/p/pennanthil-p/uniform-shop/Term_2_Order_Form_and_Price_List_2021.pdf

Hours

Monday and Tuesday: 8:45am – 10:45am

Thursday revised to 8:45am – 10:45am

Alison Parker

Uniform Shop Manager

phpsuniformshop@gmail.com

From all reports all the students who attended music camp had an awesome time and are already looking forward to next year's camp.

We also completed our recordings for the Sydney Eisteddfod yesterday afternoon and evening. All the bands sounded great and we hope to get some good feedback on our entries.

Future Events at a Glance

June

Wednesday 9: 7pm - 8pm. SCB. PHHS Music Festival.

August 

Thursday 5: 9:30am. JB. Ryde Eisteddfod

Early August: All bands. ASBOF. Video submission.

Sunday 15: All bands. Ryde East Music Festival

3rd or 4th week. All bands. School concert night. Exact date TBD

September

Saturday 11 / Sunday 12:  NSW Wind Ensemble

Saturday 12: SCB. Music By Moonlight NWPS 

Award Worksheets
Can any completed worksheets these please be submitted as soon as possible through the new Worksheet Submission Web Form.

https://forms.gle/NpPEG9jk2FsYdmmq7

If you have issues with the web form you can still send through to phpsband+worksheets@gmail.com

Training Band

TB students to be practising the following pieces:

1. Magpie Mayhem
2. Bandroom Boogie

Intermediate Band

ICB students to be practising the following pieces:

1. Rock 101
2. Classic Bits and Pieces
3. Black Snake and Kookaburra

Senior Band

There are still some Thursdays with only one parent helper, would be great to get the 2nd spot filled in for those days.

PHHS Music Festival. 9th June, 7pm. any audience member wishing to attend our Music Festival on 9 June must book a ticket through trybooking.com using the link: https://www.trybooking.com/BRHXS

• The Forgotten Village (Priority for PERCUSSION practice)
• Stillmeadow Overture
• Circus Marchimus

Other practice:

• Bohemian Rhapsody  (Priority for WOODWIND practice**)
• Rolling In The Deep
• Cool Blues For Trumpets 
• El Toro

Jazz Band

Jazz Band has been entered into the Ryde Eisteddfod. This will be during the morning of Thursday 5 August. Please lock in this date in your diary. The school will not be providing transportation, so parents will need to organise the transportation for their children.

Practice should be focussed on the following:

• Basie-cally the blues (Priority)
• Eye of the tiger
• The funky monkey
• Domino

Parent Helpers

A big thank you to everyone who helped out at the recordings on Monday night and to this week's helpers: Robyn P (TB), Jade C (ICB), and Shireen S (SCB Monday) and Priya Y & Cindy J (SCB Thursday).

Pennant Hills Public School Band Committee

phpsband@gmail.com

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

Introduction to Strings

No rehearsal next week Monday 14 due to the Queen’s birthday

There will be one more Intro to Strings lesson on June 21. We will be in touch in the next few weeks to ask for expressions of interest for the Junior Ensemble program. Please remember that to join the Junior Ensemble you need to have started lessons with a tutor outside of school. Please see our list of possible tutors here: http://www.phpspandc.org.au/string-ensemble/string-teachers/ 

Parent helpers on June 21 are Tripti and Nicola - Thank you both :)

Intro parent helper responsibilities can be found here

Main Ensemble 

By all reports Music Camp was a huge hit where much was learned and refined. We look forward to seeing and hearing the concert performance that was recorded at camp. We also look forward to recommencing performance assemblies after a Covid induced hiatus. Strings will be playing at the performance assembly on Wednesday 15 September at 2:15 in the K-2 hall.

FOIM parents please put these remaining rehearsal dates for the term in your diary:

• Tue 8 June

• Tue 15 June

• Tue 23 June

The parent helper roster is full :)

https://doodle.com/poll/5vf6xwukwcv99tpu?utm_source=poll&utm_medium=link (for your reference)   

Our parent helper this week June 8 is Jade - Thanks Jade!

Parent helper next week June 15 is Ellie - Thanks Ellie!

Parent helper duties can be found here

Intro to Strings and Junior Ensemble rehearse in the K-2 hall Monday morning 8-9am

Main Ensemble rehearse in the K-2 hall Tuesday afternoons 3:30-4:30pm

For more information about the PHPS strings programs please visit: http://www.phpspandc.org.au/string-ensemble/

PHPS String Ensemble

Website: http://www.phpspandc.org.au/string-ensemble/

Feedback: http://www.phpspandc.org.au/string-ensemble/contact-us/