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Welcome Back to Term 2!

I hope that all families had an enjoyable break over the school holiday period. Welcome back to Term 2! A very warm welcome to new families who started at Pennant Hills PS this term. We have an extremely friendly and welcoming school community. Please feel free to reach out to other parents and staff if you need any assistance.

A reminder that the Newsletter will be published fortnightly this term. In Term 2 the Newsletter will be distributed on:

Week 2 – 7 May

Week 4 – 21 May

Week 6 – 4 June

Week 8 – 18 June

Week 10 – 2 July

ANZAC Day

I had the pleasure of joining the PHPS Student Leadership Team at the Beecroft Cenotaph on ANZAC Day to participate in the ANZAC Service led by the Rotary Club of Beecroft. Thank you to our student leaders for giving time in their holidays to proudly represent our school in the local community.

School Development Day

Last Monday on the School Development Day teaching staff engaged in the following three 90-minute professional learning sessions on Curriculum Reform:

1. Supporting writing across the curriculum
2. Learning intentions and success criteria
3. English 3-6 Exploring effective pedagogical approaches

At a minimum (many teachers participate in more professional learning in their own time) teaching staff at PHPS engage in weekly professional learning each Tuesday afternoon and participate in additional learning on School Development Days. This ensures that teaching practices at our school are in line with current research around best practice and are aimed at focusing on improvement in student performance measures.

Preliminary NAPLAN Data

The school has received some preliminary NAPLAN Data. This data is showing strong academic growth. More students are moving into the higher proficiency bands (Strong and Exceeding) in all assessments (Reading, Numeracy, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation) in both Years 3 and 5. In some assessments we are seeing a significant increase in students in the highest proficiency band of Exceeding. Please note that Writing results are not yet available.

The school is using this initial data to enable us to tailor teaching and learning programs to student's needs. Parents will receive student reports early in Term 3.

Walk Safely to School Day

This Friday is Walk Safely to School Day. Walk Safely to School Day asks that we all consider our transport habits and try to incorporate more walking as part of a healthy, active way to get around. Teachers will be taking the opportunity to discuss road safety with classes on Friday as party of Walk Safely to School Day.  

Communicating with Staff

At the end of last term, the Department of Education launched some communication guidelines to schools enabling teachers to switch off from non-emergency communication outside of school operating hours. These guidelines are supporting staff to maintain a healthy balance between their professional lives and their personal family time. As professionals, teachers often choose to work outside of school hours but are not required to answer non-urgent queries during that time.

The Department recognises that communicating and engaging with parents is critical for effective partnerships and that parents and carers often have no alternative but to contact the school outside of school hours. Our staff will respond to email communication during school operating hours but as most teaching staff are working face-to-face with students, an instant response should not be expected. Teachers will aim to respond to non-urgent email communication within 2 working days. Thank you for your understanding.

Streamlining Communication with Parents and Carers

This year we are working on streamlining communication with parents. We recognise that you are all busy and we want to limit the number of app notifications that you receive each day. The school will soon be issuing a “What’s On’ each Sunday evening at around 4pm. This one message will outline all upcoming events for the week and allow parents to prepare for the week ahead. Notifications on the app will then be limited to unforeseen changes in this schedule. We hope to have this summary of the week ahead in place soon.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I look forward to seeing many community members at the Mother’s Day Breakfast this Friday. The breakfast starts at 7:30am. Thank you to Mrs McCloghry and Mrs Gardener for leading the organisation of the breakfast. I hope that all mums and mother figures within our school community have a wonderful Mother’s Day this coming Sunday. Thank you also to the P&C for providing the opportunity for students to purchase a small gift from the Mother’s Day stall this week.

Warm Regards

Alison Filipic

Principal

ANZAC day service

On the last Thursday of Term 1, Pennant Hills Public School remembered the bravery and sacrifices made by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC Day is more than just a date on the calendar. It's a time to pause and reflect on the sacrifices made by those who have served our countries. It's a time to honour the ANZAC spirit that continues to inspire us today. And it's a reminder that, no matter the challenges we face, the values of courage, mateship, and sacrifice will always endure. Lest we forget. Thank you to Ms Catlin for her organisation of the day and to our school leaders for leading the service, Abigail and Liam for their wonderful bugel playing and Quintin, Zainab, Ezekiel and Shaniq for their singing.

School Development Day – Term 2

What do the teachers do on Staff Development Days? You might ask, well, last Monday our eager and dedicated staff returned for our first day of Term 2. Our teaching staff were required to undertake 3 x 90 minute mandated Professional Learning sessions, created by the Department of Education. We looked at Supporting Writing across the Curriculum, Learning Intentions and Success Criteria and English 3-6: Exploring Effective Pedagogical Approaches. We had many round table discussions on how best this professional learning could be used in our context and how we could utilise this learning to support our students to reach their full potential. Special thanks to Mrs Filipic and Mrs McLaren for facilitating the day and to all of our wonderful staff for being so engaged!

Burumin Day

Our students worked hard to earn their Burumin Day on each site, which was celebrated on the last Thursday of term. There was dancing, cookie decorating, board games, sport activities and a plethora of other activities of the students’ choosing. A great end to the term! Well done students!

Return and Earn

We have been successful in our application to feature on the Return and Earn app! If you are an eager Return and Earn-er or if you would like to start collecting, we would love if you considered donating your Return and Earn digital funds to Pennant Hills Public School! We will use these valuable funds on resources to directly support the students.

Performance Assembly

The last Wednesday of term saw our first Performance Assembly for 2024. Well done to all of the performers (Year 2 Dance Group, Mr Arnold and Ms Catlin, Senior Band and Mr Odams, Weemala Choir and Ms Stevens) and to all of our students for their excellent behaviour!

Kind Regards

Kate Wasson

Deputy Principal

FEES AND CONTRIBUTIONS EXPLAINED

WORKBOOKS, CONSUMABLES, EXCURSIONS AND ACTIVITY COSTS TERM 1

Please be advised the costs for workbooks, classroom consumables, excursions, and activity  for Term 1 have now been added to the School Bytes Payment Portal. If any family is experiencing financial difficulties, please contact myself as soon as possible to discuss alternate payment arrangements. These can include payment by instalments, paying a contribution or requesting support from the school. All discussions are confidential.

Payment online via the School Bytes Parent Portal is the much-preferred method of payment. Alternately payment by cash or cheque can be made at the main school office with one payment per family. All money should be enclosed in a secure envelope, clearly labelled with eldest child’s name and class as well as completing the form attached to this letter detailing siblings’ name/s amounts paid.

VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS

Voluntary General School Contribution

Pennant Hills Public School requests an annual voluntary school contribution, like most NSW public schools. This contribution is used to enhance our educational and extra-curricular programs and resources such as IT equipment, readers, sport, and art equipment. This contribution is voluntary, and the Department of Education’s voluntary school contribution policy can be found here:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/pd-2005-0233

Voluntary School Contribution is requested for:

• Class readers for home and class use.
• Paper levy for worksheets and computer printouts.
• Technology and Innovations – purchase of resources to support use and integration of technology in classrooms and innovative technology, e.g., robotics, class subscriptions to Web 2.0 tools and future resources.

Voluntary P&C Contributions

This year the contribution will remain at $65.00 per child for the first two children and $35.00 for the third and subsequent children.  This voluntary contribution is a major part of the P&C fundraising and usually we have a very high return rate. These funds contribute to the support of Learning Support programs, playground renovation, technologies, and other P&C funded school projects.

Ms Klimoski

Student Administration Manager

Congratulations to Olivia Yu and Lachlan Hales, both from Year 5, who are the winners of the Dance Spectacular Logo Competition.

New Library Monitors.

Congratulations to the 5 new library monitors that have joined our team.

Family Borrowing Afternoon

Mrs Griffith

Teacher Librarian

PSSA

Beecroft Zone offers Interschool Sport each Summer and Winter for Stage 2 & 3 students. This competition is held on Fridays and allows our students to compete against other local schools, in a friendly competition. 

Pennant Hills Public School is one of 12 local schools that participate in this competition. Students travel by bus to their games each Friday, accompanied by the teacher who is coaching the team. 

Coaches in 2024

Stage 2: Mrs Renae Cummings and Miss Reish Dy

Stage 3: Mrs Claire Nelson, Miss Belinda Ings and Miss Bridget Maitland. 

Interschool Sports Offered:

Summer: T-Ball/Softball and League Tag

Winter: Small Sided Soccer and Netball

Trials

At Pennant Hills Public School we offer all students in stages 2 and 3 the opportunity to trial for the PSSA teams. Trials occur during school time at the beginning of term 1 and term 2.  There are 3-4 trials to ensure all students are given the opportunity to trial and showcase their sporting abilities.  Once the final teams have been selected, students will be informed, and permission notes sent home. 

If you have any further questions regarding the PSSA Interschool Sports Competition, please do not hesitate to email the school and address it to Mrs Eliza O'Brien.

Burumin Award Winners

1.  Jayden W (5M)  - Aprire

2.   Emily W (5M) - Responsible

3.   Jack V (5M) - Respect 

Uniform Updates

Thank you to all that have made Flexischools orders over the past few weeks. With the high volume of orders some stock depleted very quickly and top-up orders have been made with our local suppliers.  If there are some items noted on your packing slip as awaiting delivery, please be assured that these should arrive within days and will be delivered to your child’s classroom as soon as they can be fulfilled. Thank you for your understanding.

As we continue to receive winter uniform orders, please be mindful that some customised school items can have a 4-16 week lead time, such as polar fleeces, zip jackets with school emblem embroidery and girls dresses and tunics.  It is best to place your orders as early as possible in the season to avoid disappointment.  Although we try to forecast demand as best we can, there are times when the demand for certain items and sizes is greater than anticipated and we might not have adequate stock available in the uniform shop.

Lastly, the music camp is less than 4 weeks away, if you still need a music polo please place your orders through Flexischools, prices are as listed.  The cut-off date to order these will be Sunday 26 May 5pm, to ensure you receive your polos before camp.

Appointments

Please click or scan the QR Code below to make an appointment, you will be redirected to our square booking site.

• Pease select the appropriate appointment type for your visit:
  • Standard appointment times are in individual 5-minute increments. (Choose this for returns, exchange is sizes and simple purchases).
  • Double appointment times are in individual 10-minute increments. (Choose this for larger orders, second-hand purchases, new enrolments).
• Appointments are at the uniform shop located on the 3-6 campus.

UNIFORM SHOP APPOINTMENTS

                 

Flexischools Ordering

Order on Flexischools via the “SHOP”.  If the “SHOP” icon doesn’t appear on your page, you may need to refresh your browser or pull down the screen for mobile devices.

• Currently, all uniform orders will need to be placed by 5pm on Sundays prior to the delivery date.
• Your order will be delivered on Tuesdays to your child’s classroom. Please allow 3-5 days from delivery date for your child to receive their order from their teacher. 

If you have any queries regarding Uniforms, the school website or Uniform Brochure will be the best place to look, and if you can’t find the information you need, please do not hesitate to e-mail the Uniform Shop at phpsuniformshop@gmail.com  

Nicola Lee
Uniform Shop Manager
phpsuniformshop@gmail.com

         

Want to join band but forgot last year?

We can still take students into the band. But we need to get them onto an instrument ASAP. If we get too far into the term it becomes really hard to catch up to the students who started straight away. Email phpsband@gmail.com

1st Rehearsals are THIS week!

• SCB: Monday afternoon, arrive ASAP for 3:30pm to 4:30pm
• SCB: Thursday morning, arrive 7:20am for 7:30am to 9am
• ICB: Wednesday morning, arrive 7:20am for 7:30am to 9am
• TB: Friday morning, arrive 7:35am for 7:45am to 9am

Instrument Tutoring

Room allocations have been done and sent out to the on-site tutors.

Hopefully your tutor has been in touch and you've either had your first lesson for the year or will this week.

         

Worksheets

Please make sure you print off the new set of worksheets for your child to work on. They can be found on the Band web pages here. Can these please be submitted as soon as they're complete through the Worksheet Submission Web Form.

ICB & SCB students, if you didn't complete all your worksheets from last year please try to get these submitted ASAP. There are a number of students close to receiving awards from last year who need to do either solos or submit compositions.

         

Parent Helper Roster

The new Google Sheets based parent rosters are now open to fill in for Parent Helper slots. Please remember the band doesn't function without parent helpers. And if we don't have a parent helper for a rehearsal it will not go ahead.

http://www.phpspandc.org.au/band/band-roster/

Great work to the new Training Band families who have already filled all of Term 1.

ICB - There are still 4 spots to fill this term.

SCB - There are still 9 spots to fill this term.

        

BASC

If your child attends BASC on a rehearsal afternoon, or Morning, or has an instrument tutorial on an afternoon please ensure you let them know. I believe you need to fill in a form to enable the tutors to collect and return the students to BASC.

        

Band AGM and Committee Meeting

We're having our inaugural 2024 band AGM, followed by a band sub-committee meeting on Tuesday night 20th February at 7pm via Zoom.

Please feel free to join us, it's always great to get new members into the committee.

Zoom Link

      

PHPS Band Committee

phpsband@gmail.com

www.phpspandc.org.au/band/

DISCLAIMER

Advertisements placed in the School’s Newsletter do not reflect an endorsement or otherwise by Pennant Hills Public School of the product or service.

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