Meet the Teacher

This week is our Meet the Teacher night, This is a great opportunity to meet your child’s teacher/s for 2020. The night is about being informed about your child’s class, it is not an opportunity to talk with the teacher about your child’s individual needs. For these types of discussions please arrange a meeting with your child’s teacher.

For Kindergarten and Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2) please meet in the hall on the K-2 site at your respective times and for Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4) and Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6) please meet in the COLA on the 3-6 site.

Kindergarten (This includes K/1R) is on Wednesday 19 February at 5pm.

Stage 1 is on Wednesday 19 February at 6pm.

Stage 2 is on Thursday 20 February at 5pm.

Stage 3 is on Thursday 20 February at 6pm.

Attendance

Attendance at school is compulsory, however, if your child is not feeling well, keeping them at home to recover from their illness is the best thing. We completely understand that this is inconvenient for working parents but school is not a place to recover from an illness. If your child is away from school you need to notify the school when they return as to the reason for their absence via a note addressed to your child’s teacher. If you believe that your child is going to be away from school for more than a few days please ring the office and let us know. Thank you for your understanding with this matter.

Communication

Communication is the single biggest factor in any environment. Please ensure that every morning you take the time to discuss with your child/ren the arrangements for the afternoon pick up. A friendly reminder that pick up is 3:15pm and it is a parent’s / carer’s responsibility to make sure they are able to collect their child on time. Obviously being a split site this causes some issues as you cannot be in two places at once. Teachers are now outside for a quick chat and to keep an eye on the children in the interim. Lately there has been a lot of confusion in the afternoon when it comes to pick up. If your child normally goes to BASC in the afternoon but you collect them in the afternoon from the school, please inform BASC. If you are running late please contact the office via a phone call; sending an email is not guaranteed to reach the intended recipient by the right time. Staff take their Duty of Care very seriously and require your consideration to ensure everyone gets where they need to be safely every afternoon.

Change of Details

It is very important to notify the school’s office if any of your personal details change. Please take the time to ensure that the information we have is up to date with your mailing address, residential address and most importantly phone numbers. We have had instances this year where the numbers provided to the school are no longer connected. This makes it more difficult for the staff to contact you when necessary.

If you are not sure whether your details are accurate please email the school with your correct information.

School Bus

During the week Transdev, the bus company, which completes the morning and afternoon run, contacted me about the lack of students using their Opal card when using the bus. Please ensure that your child has the correct Opal card for their journeys to and from school and that, they in fact are using it. The Opal card system allows the bus company to know how many students utilise the service which they have to report on to the government. If the numbers are not accurate because students are not using their opal card this could affect the services currently being provided. I thank you for your understanding and cooperation with this matter.

Family Law related matters

A friendly reminder on two family law related matters.

Firstly; the school is not the appropriate place for family disputes to be resolved nor is it appropriate for school staff to resolve such issues. Where separated parents cannot agree on what is in the child’s best interests, it is the court, not the school, to determine those interests. We urge parents in these situations to expeditiously take steps to obtain court orders relating to issues impacting on the school and provide the school a copy of any orders obtained. The school makes decisions based primarily on what is considered in the best educational interests of the child.

Secondly; we understand that we have very busy families and on occasions parents ask the support of other family members or friends to pick up students during school hours for appointments. This school insists on written permission from parents to release students to the care of others. The necessity of this permission does include grandparents who are not the main carer of the child. At PHPS we take the safety and care of your child very seriously. Where an unexpected emergency has occurred and a signed permission note is not possible, we insist on a phone conversation between a parent and a staff member to verify permission.

STEM Project

Last week over Monday and Tuesday Mrs Griffith, Mr Bryant and Mrs Ford attended professional learning at the STEM Teacher Enrichment Academy at Sydney University. This year our school is involved in a project that aims to build a community of practice between Stage 4 STEM teachers in a secondary school and Stage 3 teachers from three of their feeder primary schools. As part of the program we will be working with Pennant Hills High School, West Pennant Hills Public School and Thornleigh West Public School to develop a STEM continuum of learning.

During the two days at the university last week our staff collaborated with the other schools to begin designing STEM projects which develop students’ critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration. They also participated in some STEM challenges themselves, designing flat pack chairs built from cardboard boxes and building wind powered ultra-light weight vehicles. You can see Mrs Griffith testing out the chair her group created below. We look forward to sharing more of the project with you over the year.

Principal’s Awards

K-2 awards: Hayden Y, Kieran H

3-6 Awards: Mesa H, Zoe G, Kiara D, Keiran P, Sofia E, Amelia M, Maysa G, Emily N, Amelia B.

Maths Talk

Please join Mr Matt Pinchbeck, Mrs Melissa Griffith and myself at our Maths Talk. We will provide some examples and discuss some of the changes we are making at Pennant Hills P.S. to the way we are teaching maths and the way our students are engaging in mathematics. There will be a short Q&A at the end of the session. This is a great way to keep up to date with what is happening at our school and you are welcome to stay on afterwards for the P&C Annual General Meeting.

When: Week 6, Tuesday 3 March

Time: 7pm followed by P&C at 7:30pm

Where: School Hall – Trebor Rd site

Child Safety Handbook

The “NSW Police Legacy Child Safety Handbook” is a comprehensive resource to assist parents, carers as well as teachers on a range of topics essential to child safety. The updated online edition (link below) also includes important content updates from: NSW Ministry of Health, NSW Police Force, Fire and Rescue NSW, Rural Fire NSW, Transport for NSW, Sydney Trains, NSW Department of Family & Community Services, eSafety Commissioner and NSW Office of the Children's Guardian.

Here are also a couple of other links where the digital handbook can be viewed (with relevant summer messages: bushfire safety, pool safety, beach & sun safety, etc):

NSW Police Legacy website – https://www.policelegacynsw.org.au/resources/

Child Safety Hub website – http://nsw.childsafetyhub.com.au/handbook/

Library 

We are very lucky to have such a knowledgeable, dedicated and enthusiastic librarian at our school. Ms Davis has a passion for literature, which is evident in the level of student engagement in her library lessons. Students from K-6 thoroughly enjoy being read-to by Ms Davis and we encourage all children to be read-to during their primary schooling. It is a magical time to spend with your child, it allows your child to relax and just listen and engage in the literature the way you would and shows that you also share an interest for reading with them.

KD - Jordan H, William A, Noa S, Krisav P,

KH - Chloe H, Matthew R,

KP - Nathanael C, Henley W, Alex C, Marnie H,

K/1R - Isla A, Natalie S, Lachlan W, Maddie PDS,

1D - Dan H, Esandu P, Jacinta I,

1E - Reyansh S, Grace P, Rina B, Luc P, Blake K, Frederick K,

1S - Kieran H, Joey C, Emma C, Jayden W, Norah HM, Amira R, 

1/2H - Shion R, Ayesha D, Madeleine W, Jamie G, Annabelle T, Hayden Y,

2C - Zachary C, Penelope K, Sotirios J, Ethan C, Gabriela M, Liam B,

2M - Quintin L, Jayne K, Charles D, Lara B, Sophie S, Zanna P,

2W - Adelaide S, Blake W-S, Abi W, Angus M, Sean M,

Scholastic Book Club – Issue 1

A reminder that the closing date for Issue 1 online orders is tomorrow - Wednesday 19 February.  If you wish to place an order from the Book Club catalogue you will need to go the Scholastic Book Club LOOP website page, register/update your details if you haven’t already done so and then pay by credit card.

How do I register and order?

1. Go to the Scholastic Book Club LOOP website to register your details. You will need to enter your name, email address and a password. Click on “Add new child” and using the drop down menu locate our school and your child’s class.   If you have children on both sites you may decide to register and place your entire order just with one child to save time.
2. Enter your child’s first name and their surname initial. Please note that Scholastic does not share student details with third parties or use this information for marketing purposes. This information is for distribution for when the order arrives at the school.
3. Click on “ORDER" and enter the item number from the Book Club catalogue and follow the prompts to make payment by credit card.
4. All orders are then processed after the closing date and delivered to the school to be distributed.

Please note there is no need to return a paper order form or payment receipts to the school.

Ms Davis

Teacher librarian

Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to all students that participated in our 2020 Swimming Carnival. Well done to everyone who received a ribbon last Wednesday at assembly. A huge thank you to all parents and carers that came to support our students on the day. Students who will be progressing to the Zone swimming carnival will receive their notes this week. ​

Please find our 2020 swimming results below. 

Amy Ford

5F Classroom Teacher

Relieving Assistant Principal (M,T,W)

• Music camp registrations for this year opens this Wednesday 19 Feb. The venue has been changed to Crusaders, Galston.
• Reminding SCB band parents to sign the Permission to Walk slip and return them to the band conductor. An email has been sent last week with the form attached.
• Students who are still interested in joining the band can send their expression of interest to the band email mentioned below.
• Requesting band parents to put their names in the band rosters for their respective band. The band program cannot run without your help!

Please check our website for more information http://www.phpspandc.org.au/band

The Band Committee

phpsband@gmail.com

• Registrations open on Wednesday 19 Feb.
• The camp is held from 3 Apr to 5 April.

PHPS String Ensemble

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

PSSA SOCKS

The navy PSSA football/softball socks in sizes 2-7 and 7-11 are available for sale at the Uniform Shop for $8.50. The socks can also be purchased online through Flexischools, but prices will include the Flexischools’ surcharge. 

GIRLS’ PETER PAN COLLARED S/S SHIRTS 

Please note that the size 8, 10 and 12 girls’ Peter Pan collared short sleeve shirts have sold out, and due to the lengthy manufacture time will not be available until next summer. 

SPORTS UNIFORM 

New stock of sport uniforms have arrived and are now available for purchase in all sizes. 

UNIFORM SHOP COMMITTEE 

We are currently seeking new members for the Uniform Shop Committee. The committee meets just once a term to discuss and monitor the supply, quality and price of the school uniform. The committee members also provide assistance to new families at the Kinderlinks program. If you are interested in joining the committee please contact me at the shop or on the below email address. 

DR SHOE 

Dr Shoe will be attending the Uniform Shop on Thursday 19 March from 3.00pm – 3.45pm this term. 15% of all sales are donated to the P&C. Alternatively Dr Shoe can be contacted direct on 0414912838 to arrange a home fitting. 

ORDERING UNIFORMS 

Uniforms can be ordered by attending 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.

HOURS 

Monday and Tuesday 8.45am – 10.45am

Thursday 3.00pm – 4.00pm

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/New_Design_Order_Form_and_Price_List_Term_1_2020.pdf

Alison Parker

Uniform Shop Manager

phpsuniformshop@gmail.com