Pennant Hills Public School eNewsletter

Thank You and Merry Christmas!

This year has been like no other. I remember writing a similar line this time last year and here is hoping that I am not writing the same line next year.

2021 has been an extraordinary year for our entire school community in so many ways. It feels like every day there is a new challenge coming our way. Whilst that is not completely accurate, it is important to note that despite the difficulties we have faced this year, there has been a lot of success for everyone.

This year I have had the privilege to witness the incredible achievements of all our students at PHPS. For some their achievements are easily identified, for others their achievements have been small. However, all achievements are important and worth celebrating. With this in mind I would like to thank the parents, grandparents, uncles, aunties, brothers, sisters or whoever supported our students during Learning from Home. Your support has enabled the students to experience success in so many ways.

Thanks to all Parents

As always, our parents are very supportive of their children’s education and the school. This was certainly tested this year due to Covid-19. On behalf of students and staff I thank you for your efforts every single day in so many ways to support the students. Without you and your support the school would not be in the position it is today.

At this time of year we lose many families from our school as their youngest child finishes Year 6. This year is no different. These families will be acknowledged at tomorrow’s Year 6 Graduation Assembly, but I wanted to thank you in this forum as well. Many of these families have been great contributors to our school over many years. In particular we have two past Presidents of the P&C leaving our school. Thank you, Mr Ninnes and Mr Davidson, for your contributions to PHPS over so many years. Thank you to Mr and Mrs Muffett for their contributions to the school. Mr Muffett is a past President of BASC and for many years has held positions on the BASC and P&C committees. To all the other families who are leaving our school, thank you for all your contributions and we look forward to seeing you in the future.

Thanks to the Teachers

The teachers at PHPS do such an amazing job each and every day. They are truly a wonderful group of professionals who go above and beyond to support all the students on their learning journey. We are very fortunate to have such a wonderful group of people in one place. This was extremely evident this year when they continued to lift the bar in terms of supporting the students. It was a pleasure to see their passion and dedication shine through to best support all the students.

As they will be leaving us at the end of this year, I wish the following teachers all the very best for 2022 and beyond as they embark on their next adventure: Mrs Di Maddison, Mrs Tracey Haselden, Miss Lisa Newman and Miss Georgia Jones. Thank you for your contributions to our community.

Thanks to the School’s Executive Staff

Executive Staff at any school do an amazing job and it is certainly no different at our school. These amazing people do so much to support the running of the school. They are a credit to themselves, and their families and we are very fortunate that they work with us in our community. Thank you to each and everyone one of them for their constant dedication and professionalism to support our community.

Thank you to Mrs Wasson (Deputy Principal); Mrs Griffith (Assistant Principal/Relieving Deputy Principal); Mrs Coventry, Mrs Buttrey, Miss Maginnis (substantive Assistant Principals), and Mrs Ford, Mrs Parras, Mrs Reid and Mrs Rudd (relieving Assistant Principals).

Thank you to Office and Support Staff

The office and support staff are the hidden heartbeat of any school. Often their contributions go unnoticed as they go about their daily work. The ladies and men do so much to support the school to allow teachers the time to support the students. Thank you for everything you do every single day. We appreciate and value your individual contributions.

Thanks to Mrs Klimoski (School Administration Manager); Mrs Worrell, Mrs Abela, Mrs Paisley and Mrs Channa (School Administration Officers); Mr Scott (General Assistant); Mrs Wright, Ms Freeland, Mr Clarke and Miss Harrison (School Learning Support Officers).

Sincere Thanks to the P&C and Volunteers

Our school is so very fortunate to be blessed with an amazing group of parents who volunteer their time to support the school and community. Their devotion is second to none. This group of people ensure that so many things are able to operate to support the community. The P&C run the canteen, uniform shop, band program and fundraising activities throughout the year. Our volunteers assist with supporting the Scripture and Primary Ethics programs, carnivals and in a ‘normal’ year in-class support.

Thanks to our Amazing Students

To our amazing students your achievements this year have been incredible. You have been thrown so many curve balls and always demonstrated flexibility, resilience and a commitment to your own learning. These attributes will certainly hold you in good stead for the future and you should all be very proud of your achievements. Well done!

To our magnificent Year 6 students, you leave our school on Thursday knowing that your time at PHPS has contributed to making it the best school in the area. Your passion and enthusiasm for learning has been evident every day. However, I believe your greatest characteristic is your ability to support and encourage each other through challenges. Often this meant putting your ambitions to the side to ensure a classmate succeeded. There is no greater quality than selflessness, and you displayed this on many occasions. We wish you the best of luck for the next stage of your learning journey. Remember, wherever you may go you will always go with the knowledge the class of 2021 was one that supported each other. This trait is important to remember as the road ahead may get bumpy. If that is the case, there are friends and family ready to support you as they have already done, all you need to do is ask.

Good luck and best wishes Year 6!

2022 Dates

Staff return to school on Friday 28 January 2022. Students in Years 1-6 will return to school on Tuesday 1 February. Kindergarten students will participate in the Best Start Assessments at any allocated time between Tuesday 1 February and Thursday 3 February. Their first full day of school will be Friday 4 February.

Kind Regards

Mr Matt Pinchbeck
Principal

Around the school...

Santa Visit

We had a visit from Santa during the K-2 assembly last week!

Class Party Day

I whipped around the school this morning to see what everyone was getting up to for Party Day and it was obvious that students were experiencing pure happiness. There were games of cricket, egg and spoon races, craft activities, literacy games, scattegories, lego, board games, fine motor activities, movies, kahootz, gift giving, gift making and a Santa escape room! What a wonderful time for everyone. We are all so proud of our students and their absolute resilience over this year (and the previous year), they truly are amazing humans. Thank you to our super human teachers and support staff for making this last week (and every week) so fabulous for our students – a well deserved break ahead for all.

Kind Regards

Mrs Kate Wasson

Deputy Principal

Year 6 Celebration of Learning and Graduation

Wednesday 15 December, 10:00am
Onsite: K-2 COLA area outside
1 person per student able to attend (as per NSW Health orders, this may be subject to change)

We are following different guidelines for end of year assemblies and Year 6 graduations, hence why most are zoom assemblies.

Thank you for your understanding.

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

Year 6 Bell Ringing and Clap out – Thursday 2:45pm

Parents of Year 6 students are invited onto the 3-6 oval to take photos of the traditional bell ringing.

Parents must register via QR code at the back gate of the 3-6 site, show their double vaccination certificate to the teacher on duty and remain on the 3-6 oval.

Students will only be able to have photos with children in their class. If they would like photos with friends from other classes they will need to be taken after 3:15pm and off site.

Parents are to remain physically distant when on the oval. If you are unwell you are to stay home and not come up to the school.

Parents are to arrive from 2:40pm. Bell ringing will start at 2:45pm.

Once the year book presentation and bell ringing has concluded, students and parents must leave promptly at 3:15pm.

Thank you for your support and understanding.

Regards

Melisa Griffith

Assistant Principal

KD - Coralie A

KL - Ashleigh D, Rasidhu H, Maya V

1A - Eva G, Alexandra P, Kaleiya S

2A - Lachlan H, Luck K

3H - Shahab A, Ethan C, Yumo Z

4B - Lewis D, Rory M, Katelyn G

4F - Asa L

4M - Lauren N, Flynn K, Mohamad A, Eeshan S

Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs

Thank you to all the K-6 students and their families who collected bread tags in 2021 to save them from landfill. Thanks to your effort, we have saved 1.6kg of bread tags, or around 4560 plastic tags going into landfill. That's a great achievement! The bread tags have now been dropped off in Beecroft, in one of the collection points. They will be sent to South Australia shortly where they will be sold to fund wheelchairs in South Africa (https://ozbreadtagsforwheelchairs.org.au). Please keep saving the tags over summer, ready to drop them off at the beginning of term 1!

On a side note, two bread tags were spotted in the giant pile - these were made of cardboard! It is great to see that some companies are moving towards more sustainable materials that can be recycled or composted.

Eco-Warriors

The Green Team would like to thank all our wonderful 2021 Eco-Warriors. Despite the covid-related disruptions and our inability to reunite in Term 4, these students have shown great enthusiasm and commitment towards sustainability both at school and at home. We congratulate them and we look forward to rich conversations in the new year with like-minded students.

Return and Earn

We have raised $1814.70 in total or over 18,000 bottles/containers recycled and saved from landfill - what a fabulous effort! Even during our strange Covid year, our latest collection earned us over $250. Well done everyone! We are in the running for a 'Sustainable Cities Award' from Hornsby Shire Council, we will keep you updated with information regarding this.

Please continue collecting Return & Earn containers over the break and make sure to bring them in for 2022.

Soft Plastic Recycling and Composting

K-6 classrooms are now equipped with soft plastic recycling, and many classes regularly compost their food waste. This is great progress, and we look forward to continuing these initiatives in the new year.

Thank You!

As the end of the year is upon us, we would like to thank the many parents involved in the P&C Green team, with a special mention to Katie S for leading the committee these past few years. We thank them for their time, enthusiasm, and commitment to supporting sustainability initiatives at our school. We would also like to thank Mrs Mortimer, Mrs Mackay, Miss Di, and Miss Steel for their time and fantastic support of these initiatives this year. Finally, thank you to the many students and their families who have embraced new practices, at home and at school.

We wish all families a happy holiday!

Miss Dwyer and Mrs Dakin

Green Team Coordinators

It is the end of the school year and just like you, I think the PHPS Guinea Pig family are looking forward to a rest.

The Pigs have certainly had a valuable impact with students at the school- they have been a calming influence, improved self-esteem and motivation, helped to develop social skills and been non-judgemental friends.

The pigs have ticked off soooo many firsts since being at school- I thought I would make a list of all their achievements for you - the Guinea Pigs have:

Introduced themselves to every class in the school (bar 1!). They shared the story of how they came to be at school and some facts about Guinea Pigs in general. I think nearly every student is much wiser about our furry little potatoes and nearly everyone has had a pat or a cuddle!
Made themselves available almost every recess and lunchtime for students to come and visit, as per the class timetable

Guinea pig monitors to help with: caring for the pigs, ensuring whoever visited had a fair turn of cuddling, cleaning the cage, refilling hay and vegetables, tidying, increasing their guinea pig knowledge, changing the displays, gently encouraging uncertain friends (and some teachers!!) to have a cuddle if they felt uncomfortable. The monitors have demonstrated great responsibility and dedication and also been generally beautiful by making gifts and books and clothing for the pigs
Opi has been crowned ‘King Opi the 1st’- he has even been given a crown!
Porcus appears to be most students’ favourite pig
Provided a source of comfort and safety for those who come to lessons with Ms Schmidt
Alleviate distress and anxiety after tests or speeches or some angsty situations for students

Are a calm down space for some students who need it
Have encouraged student attendance as the students want to see and cuddle the pigs!
Been learning to read by participating in MacqLit lessons. They also get read to.
Have only pee’ed on a feeeeew people
Have been part of the Guinea Pig Project in Stage 2! The students in Stage 2 have been developing their literacy skills by writing diary entries from the perspective of one of the pigs , acrostic poems and letters to me- all from a Guinea pig! They have been designing guinea pig menus having researched the foods they can and cannot eat and used their research and maths skills to cost these out. They have created designs for hutches and playpens and built some of these designs from recyclable materials- some being called “LoobyLoo Lobby’, “Porcus Palace’ and the ‘Kartoffel Kingdom’.

Here is some of the fabulous work by our Stage 2 students and the Guinea Pig Project…

An acrostic poem about Kartoffel by Sahanya F of 4F; with Kartoffel

An acrostic poem about Kartoffel by Amelia K and Willow H of 3H

A diary entry from Tootsie by Shion R of 3H

The ‘Kartoffel Kingdom’ and ‘Porcas Palace’ ; with Kartoffel by Angus M, Shahab, Liam C and Madeline with of 3H

The “LoobyLoo Lobby” by Hannah M and Yoninah F of 3H; with LoobyLoo

The ‘Guinea Pig Express” by Jamie G and Austin D of 3R; with Kartoffel

Penelope K and Georgia B’s creation; withLoobyLoo

Kartoffelin Grace C and Abbie W’s palace, complete with drawbridges and family photos!

Thank you PHPS for welcoming the Guinea Pigs- they have loved joining our school family and cannot wait to see you all again in 2022. Enjoy your holidays!

Ms Schmidt, Porcus, LoobyLoo, Opi, Tootsie and Kartoffel

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Code of Conduct for students, parents and guardians

ePack brochure 2022

The Uniform Shop has closed for the school holidays.

Uniform Shop Committee

I would like to thank the committee for their help and support throughout 2021. If you are interested in joining the Uniform Shop Committee in 2022, please contact me at the email address below.

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 2022

The last day of trading for 2021 was Thursday 9 December.

At this stage it is hoped that the Uniform Shop will be able to resume over the counter sales and service by appointment in 2022. Please note that Department of Education rules stipulate that all parents attending a Uniform Shop appointment must be fully vaccinated. In anticipation of the further easing of Covid-19 restrictions I wish to advise that the Uniform Shop hopes to reopen for appointments on the following dates and times in Term 1, 2022: