Strategic Improvement Plan 2021-2024

Strategic Direction 2 - Wellbeing

The Strategic Improvement Plan (SIP) for 2021 -2024 for Pennant Hills Public School outlines the school’s vision to work with our community to strengthen our Wellbeing Framework, practices and processes to represent and support each and every student.

This year the Wellbeing team held forums with staff, students and parents to garnish their thoughts on this area with a view to improve what we do to support the students. Whilst the lockdown has slowed our desired progress in this area, it still remains a high priority to work with the community to develop an effective, all encompassing framework. The team have been looking at research and schools nearby that have been successful in this area to look at ways we can improve. There is more to be done in this area and throughout 2022 you can expect to see more communication about this topic.

Tonight this group will be presenting at the P&C meeting, so please join in to hear more about the school’s Strategic Direction in this area.

Wellbeing encompasses many factors to support our students; wellbeing, Child Protection, and anti-bullying. Our current Wellbeing framework states:

"Wellbeing is defined as the quality of a person’s life. At Pennant Hills Public School (PHPS) we provide experiences that develop character, by promoting mindfulness (self-regulation and behaviour) curiosity, courage, resilience, ethics and leadership. Our school focuses on giving students a voice, being active learners and developing strong character qualities that will enable them to connect, thrive, succeed and contribute positively throughout life. We see wellbeing comprising of the domains of cognitive, social, emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing."

"We seek to foster and nurture empowered individuals who have control over lived experiences, build their own resilience and in turn contribute positively to collective wellbeing and an inclusive community."

"Child protection is explicitly taught by classroom teachers each year at a grade level to assist students in developing skills in recognising and responding to unsafe situations, seeking assistance effectively, establishing and maintaining relationships and strengthening attitudes and values related to equality, respect and responsibility."

“The aim of the anti-bullying policy is to ensure students learn in a supportive, caring and safe environment without fear of being bullied. The school does not tolerate bullying in any form. Every member of the school community has the right to learn, work and teach in a happy and safe environment. The school promotes positive and respectful relationships between all members of the school community.”

“Pennant Hills Public School rejects all forms of bullying. We value, respect and show tolerance of others in a safe and supportive environment. We foster positive relationships through the implementation of the programs outlined in the Wellbeing Policy.”

We look forward to moving ahead with the community in this area next year to strengthen the school’s practices around wellbeing.

2022 Parent Requests

All parent requests for class placement for 2022 need to be emailed to me via the school email, by Friday 12 November 2021.

pennanthil-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

I can assure you that all requests will be considered, however, I cannot promise that all requests will be actioned. The forming of our classes goes through a rigorous process consisitng of three levels. Firstly, class teachers make recommendations with their grade colleagues about next year’s classes. These staff have been working closely with the students all year and are best placed to make informed decisions to support the child’s academic growth. The next step is for the RFF teachers, specialist teachers and Assistant Principals to run their eyes over the classes and discuss any concerns with their grade colleagues. At this step the Assistant Principals may make some changes based on specific knowledge they have. The final step is when Mrs Wasson and myself look at the classes. This process has already began and classes will not be finalised until the beginniing of next year. All students’ needs are considered when forming classes.

P&C Meeting

Tonight is the monthly P&C meeting. It will be held virtually due to the current guidelines. The details to access the meeting are in the P&C President’s Report later in this newsletter. To hear what is happening in and around school I encourage you to join us. It is also a great way to get involved and support the school and your child’s education. We look forward to seeing you tonight.

Opportunity Class Placement Test

The Opportunity Class Placement Test has been rescheduled to Wednesday 17 November 2021. The test will be computer-based test, 60 minutes in total, and sat in one single session.

Where possible the test will be conducted in the students' primary school, and to maintain community safety, the test will be administered by the school's teachers. Alternative testing arrangements will be made where the test cannot be held at the primary school.

Parents will receive 'Test authority' advice by email on Wednesday 3 November 2021 which will confirm where their children will sit the Opportunity Class Placement Test. Parents will also receive a test information bulletin at the same time which will provide further detail about the test including how students can familiarise themselves with a computer based sample test.

A new, modified timeline is being implemented to ensure students can be placed into Year 5 opportunity classes at the beginning of the 2022 school year. View the Fact sheet for parents and students which outlines the new dates for each remaining part of the placement process.

Please continue to check the NSW Department of Education website for current advice for families.

Please log in to your application dashboard and ensure that your contact details and child's current school are up to date. Send a message to the Team through the application dashboard if the school or any other details have changed.

Selective High School Application for 2023

Information is subject to change throughout 2022 because COVID-19 restrictions may affect timing and processes.

REVISIT THIS SITE REGULARLY TO SEE CHANGES THAT MAY OCCUR.

Applications for entry in 2023 will open on 19 October 2021 and close on 17 November 2021. The placement test will be held on 10 March 2022.

Download the printable information for applicants about placement in selective high schools for Year 7 entry (PDF 518KB).

Late applications will be considered only where documentary evidence can be provided to show that families were affected by extraordinary circumstances which prevented them from applying on time.

Due to COVID 19 restrictions in 2021, primary schools will not be required to provide school assessment scores for the 2022 selective high school placement process for Year 7 entry in 2023. Primary school principals will continue the usual process of confirming information entered by parents in their applications and by adding relevant information on student background, disability and reasonable adjustments.

Kind Regards

Mr Matt Pinchbeck
Principal

Wellbeing Action Group

Our Wellbeing Action Group will be presenting tonight during the P&C meeting at 7:30 (details in the P&C report below). Please join us as we share with you our journey thus far in realigning our whole school wellbeing policy with our core values and School Improvement Plan. Mrs Laura Buttrey, Ms Lisa Newman and Mrs Amy Van Der Wal will be presenting the results of focus groups, surveys and professional learning sessions that are forming our consistent approach. We would love your input into our future directions and change in reward systems, so please join us for this session.

Around the school

I walked around the Year 1 classes this morning and observed an array of engaged learning! 1E were singing and moving to their phonics songs, 1M were deep into their activities during literacy groups, 1A had begun a mathematics session where they were finding the different combinations of numbers to make a total and 1P were eating their fruit break and discussing their artwork clocks and the different times they could make on them! Go Year 1!

    Ezekiel – 1M in the reading zone                  Henley – 1M writing a letter in                                                                                                      rainbow writing

      William – 1P with his croc nana                    1P with their clock artworks,

                                                                                     telling the time

Over on the 3-6 site on Monday, 6R were outside completing some comprehension activities, 4F were creating an invention to solve a problem and 6S were having a brain break, practicing one of the dances that Arnold has been teaching them.

                                             Anya and Sabrina - 4F

Kind Regards

Mrs Kate Wasson

Deputy Principal

Melissa Griffith

Relieving Deputy Principal

KB - Sophia D, Andrew M,

KC - Emily P, Jonathan L, Adriaen D,

1A - Lachlan N, Zoe S,

1E - Nathanael C, Eloise K,

1M - Molly M, Julie K,

1/2P - Spencer C, Grace A,

2A - Kira B, Sunnee G, Anton R,

2B - Alex A, Clara D,Sean B,

2W - Calvin S, Emily W, Dan H,

3D - Ava N, Yuvraj L, Ginger M,

3H - Yoninah F, Amelia K, Quintin L,

4B - Julia V, Rory McD, Lithushan L,

4F - Henry P, Kris G, Syeira A, Ryan P,

4M - Elinore F, Parmis N,Hamish K,

5W - Kate C, Spyridon J, Rishita S,

Leadership Day – Year 5 2021

The Year 5 classes will attend a separate leadership session tomorrow, Wednesday 3 November.

This begins the leadership process for 2022.

The Year 5 classes will spend a session working on leadership activities. After the sessions the students will vote for the top 20 candidates, (10 girls and 10 boys). Mr Pinchbeck will announce the top 20 leadership candidates on Friday 5 November. These 10 boys and 10 girls will then prepare a poster and speech to share with the 3-6 students, who will then vote for the top 5 girls and top 5 boys who will form the 2022 Leadership Team.

Following this process, the students will be given the opportunity to present a speech for House Captains, then the Performing Arts students will vote for the Performing Arts Captains.

Year 5 Leadership Day – Wednesday 3 November

Year 5 voting for 10 ten girls and boys – Thursday 4 November

Top 10 candidates announced – Friday 5 November

Top 10 posters due - Wednesday 10 November

Speeches and voting – Monday 15 November

Top 10 Leadership Team 2022 announced – Tuesday 16 November

House Captain Speeches and voting – Tuesday 16 November

House Captains announced – Wednesday 17 November

Performing Arts Captains voting – before then end of week 7

Performing Arts captains announced - Friday 19 November

All activities will be run in a Covid safe way, following the advice at the time of the event.

Melissa Griffith

Assistant Principal

Library Monitors' book reviews 

Hi, my name is Declan and I am a library monitor. The book I would like to recommend is “Moon Rising” by Tui T Sutherland. It is Book 6 in the “Wings of fire” series. This series is about five dragonets who go on many quests in the dragon world. Along the way they have many battles with evil dragons.

In this book, the main character is Moonwatcher who has the power to read minds. When someone starts attacking the other dragons at the academy Moonwatcher makes the difficult decision to save her new home. I really enjoyed the action and adventure in the book. My favourite character is Glory because I like his fighting spirit.

I would give this book a five star rating and recommend it to Year 4 and up. There are also graphic novel versions of this series too.

Ms Davis

Teacher Librarian

Don’t forget the new cut-off time for ordering is 9am.

There are no over the counter sales. All ordering must be done through Flexischools.

If you haven’t yet updated your Flexischools App, you will need to update it before ordering.

We will be running without the help of volunteers for the remainder of the year, so we may need to make some changes to the menu to be able to manage this.

Frozen items are available for ordering at both sites on Fridays only, at this stage.

If you have any questions, or would like to be involved with the canteen, please contact me.

Heather Tyler

0425 274 681

canteenphps@gmail.com

The Uniform Shop has resumed operations, but is currently closed for over the counter sales and service  

YEAR 6 SHIRTS 2022 

Year 5 parents please note that orders for the 2022 Year 6 shirts are being finalised this week.

The shirts will be distributed in approximately Week 4 of Term 1 2022 to all students who have placed an order.

YEAR 2 2022 HOUSE COLOURS

Year 1 parents please note that orders for the sports dots are due Friday 12 November.

Orders for the sports dots can be placed via Flexischools.

TERM 4 OPERATING PROTOCOLS 

The Uniform Shop resumed operations on Monday 18 October, however the Uniform Shop can only operate outside of school hours to process orders. 

Now that all students have returned, Flexischools orders will be delivered to students’ classrooms.

At this stage the uniform shop will not open for over the counter sales and service, as visitors are not allowed on site.

The situation may change later in the term, with restrictions easing, and any updates will be advertised in the newsletter.

Uniforms can be ordered online through Flexischools or alternatively download an order form from the school website.

If you have an item that you wish to return or exchange for another size or you require second hand uniforms, please contact the Uniform Shop on the email address below. 

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/Order_Form_and_Price_List_Term_3_2021.pdf

Alison Parker

Uniform Shop Manager

phpsuniformshop@gmail.com

Pennant Hills Public School Band Committee

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