Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Allambie Heights Public School Grapevine
Term 1, Week 4
18 February 2020
Principal's Message
Thank you to the many parents who attended our ‘Meet the Teacher’ evenings last Tuesday and
Wednesday. We look forward to meeting more parents at our first 2020 P and C meeting being held on
Tuesday 25 February 2020. Our P and C meetings are held in the school library and commence at
7.00pm. Fostering of the home-school partnership is important for all children. We look forward to working together to achieve personal success for all our students during 2020.
Your community school
Class parents 2020
Thank you to all the mums and dads who have volunteered to be class parents for 2020. Your support of
our school and your P&C is greatly appreciated. The class parent plays a vital role in ensuring open
communication between all members of our school community. If you are a parent in 5M and are
interested in becoming the class parent for your child’s class or sharing the class parent role for this class, please contact me at the office.
Parent volunteers in our school
As detailed during our ‘Meet the Teacher’ evenings, the NSW Department of Education has strict child
protection guidelines for volunteers in schools. All parent and community volunteers must provide the
school with a valid WWC certificate. Details of how to obtain this free certificate were provided in our
week 2 newsletter. Should you need any assistance in following these instructions, please contact the
school office. Parents cannot volunteer in any aspect of school life - canteen, classroom helpers, school carnivals - until a WWC certificate has been received by the school office.
As a safety precaution when volunteering in the school, all volunteers must sign in and out at the front
office. When signing in, please collect and wear an Allambie Heights PS lanyard and return your lanyard
when signing out. In the case of an emergency, it is essential we know who is in the school grounds at all times.
Achieving academic excellence
Letters for specialist programs
Students who are involved in withdrawal programs for K-2 mathematics enrichment, year 3 – year 6
writing enrichment, Maths Olympiad, support for English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D)
and support for literacy or numeracy will receive letters today to advise parents of their child ’s
involvement in any of these programs. We are legally required to provide this advice to parents at the
beginning of each school term. In term 1, letters are issued in week 4, while in term 2, term 3 and term 4,
letters are issued in week 3. Students may also be involved in programs with our specialist staff in the
classroom and this type of support is not notified in writing. Should you have any questions at all about the enrichment and support programs we offer at our school, please contact your child ’s class teacher.
Quality teacher making a difference
Teachers are learners, too!
Staff at Allambie Heights Public School spent 2019 working through the research of Dr Lyn Sharrat – a
highly accomplished practitioner, researcher, author and presenter who specialises in leading school
improvement for education systems across the world. In recognition of the work that our staff have
been doing across the school so that every child, every teacher, every leader and every school can
improve, Mrs Murphy, Mrs Swift and I – along with staff from Mimosa Public School - were invited to
share our work with delegates from across the NSW Department of Education as this research will be
implement throughout all NSW public schools. My thanks to all staff for their commitment to our
journey of school improvement and we look forward to sharing our 2020 progress with our parent community through our P and C meetings.
Nurturing your child
Before and after school supervision
As detailed during our ‘Meet the Teacher’ evenings, the play equipment in Playground North is not for
use by our school community before or after school, while the play equipment in Playground South is
not for use before school. With many students enrolled in Before and After School Care each day, it is
very difficult for the centre staff to provide close supervision of enrolled students when so many other
students remain in the playground with their friends and their parents. Our school playground opens at
8.40am each morning and we do not provide any supervision prior to this time. At the end of the school
day, students not enrolled in after school care need to follow their family routine to quickly and safely
leave the school grounds. Students cannot remain in any area of the school unsupervised at any time
before or after school. We thank you for your support in ensuring the safety of all students in our school during the busy start and end of the school day.
Sharing of food
A reminder that students should not be sharing their food with other children throughout the school day.
Although we cannot be an allergy free school, we need to be mindful that there are many students in
our school who suffer varying reactions to certain foods and your support in ensuring your child
remembers that they cannot share their food is greatly appreciated. During our ‘Meet the Teacher’
evening, many staff touched on some important allergy information relevant to their class. Should you
have any questions about the allergies in your child’s class, please contact the class teacher.
Safety in and around the school
Please be aware that dogs are not permitted on the school grounds, especially between 7.00am and
6.00pm when children are onsite for the day. Our therapy puppy, Harley, has undergone a full risk
assessment and has approval from the Department of Education to be on school grounds during the
school day. We also ask that students and their siblings do not ride bikes, skateboards or scooters on the
school grounds when arriving in the morning or being collected from school in the afternoon. The
playground becomes congested at these times and for the safety of all, we ask that parents follow these safety guidelines.
Evacuation and lockdown procedures
To ensure all students in the school are aware of the emergency procedures we have in place, we are
required to conduct drills for our evacuation and lockdown procedures throughout the year. During
drills, students and staff follow set processes prepared and regularly reviewed by our H&S committee.
As a part of this process, should parents be onsite during these drills, parents must follow the
instructions given by the staff warden for each block of classrooms. These drills don ’t take very long, but
is important all students and staff are prepared should the need ever arise for a school lockdown or evacuation. Each of our plans include the following locations:
• Onsite evacuation - netball courts in Playground North
• Bomb threat evacuation - Scalibrini side of Allambie Oval
• School lockdown - classrooms with doors locked and blinds closed
• Offsite evacuation – will be determined by emergency services, depending on the emergency.
Places could include Dee Why RSL Club or the Calabria Club.
In the event of an evacuation or lock down, emergency services personnel will work with our school
processes to ensure the safety of our school community. Our SchoolEnews app would be used to
communicate updates to our parents. In the event of an emergency, it is important that all parent
volunteers are signed in at the office so that they can be accounted for when completing a check of who is present.
Student attendance – a message from the Home School Liaison Officer
It is important for students to attend school every day and to arrive on time. Lateness to school is
recorded as a partial absence and is noted on both the student record card and student academic
reports. Students who arrive late or leave early need to report to the office prior to going to or coming
from class. In the event that a child is absent from school, parents/carers must notify the school office in
writing. Due to legal reasons it is not sufficient to state that a child was ‘absent’ – a reason for the
absence must be supplied and the date of the absence included with the explanation. Although
appreciated, notification to the office via a phone call does not meet our legal obligations. For
notification ease, the SchoolEnews app has a provision for parents to complete an online absence note.
Notification via the app is recorded on our electronic roll marking system and when the classroom
teacher marks their roll at 9.10am they can see that a legal absence has been recorded against your
child. Absences after 7 days without a note are recorded as unjustified. Should you have any questions about leave that is marked as justified or unjustified, please contact me in the school office.
All families taking leave of 5 or more school days need to contact the office for the relevant paperwork
as an Application for Leave must be applied for prior to the leave commencing. When this paperwork is
returned to school for evaluation by the Principal, a copy of a travel itinerary and airline tickets must be
attached. An electronic copy of the Extended Leave application is available from the school office or on
the school app. A Certificate of Leave cannot be issued once the leave has commenced.
Warm Regards
Angela Helsloot
Principal
Deputy Principal's Report
The School Student Transport Scheme Students who take the bus home to and from school need to
have a valid Opal Card. Many students are eligible for free travel through the School Student Transport
Scheme. School Opal cards are issued for free school travel by Transport for NSW for travel on metro,
train, bus, ferry and light rail trips in the Opal network.
All Students from Kindergarten - year 2 are eligible for a School Opal card. There is no minimum walking distance criteria applied to these students.
Primary school students from year 3 - year 6 are eligible for a School Opal card if:
• the straight line distance from their home address to school is more than 2 km, or
• the walking distance from home to school is 2.9 km or further. You can apply online for all school travel passes, using a single application form for your complete journey
https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/#/howToApply
You will need to submit a new application if you are:
• applying for a school travel pass for the first time
• requesting an additional pass as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation, eg: joint custody
You will need to re-apply or update your details if the student has a current free school travel pass and:
• the student is changing school or campus
• the student has changed address
• the student has repeated a year
• you have received an expiry notification
Warm Regards
Sarah Swift
Deputy Principal
Calendar Term 1 2020
Admin News
AN IMPORTANT REMINDER FOR ALL PARENTS:
All parents must report to the school office prior to accessing the playground or classrooms. This is not
just for parents volunteering in P and C roles or classrooms but also parents delivering items to their
child during the school day. Parents volunteering in classrooms or in P and C roles must sign in at the
school office, wear a volunteer lanyard and sign out at the school office when they have finished
volunteering. This is a safety requirement so that we are aware of who is on the school premises at all
times and should an emergency situation arise, all students, staff and parents onsite can be accounted
for. We thank you for your co-operation in following these safety measures.
Swimming Carnival Results
Congratulations to all students who participated in our school swimming carnival on Tuesday 4 February
2020. It was wonderful to see so many members of our school community able to spectate and
volunteer this year. Thank you to all the teachers and staff who carried out their jobs on the day and
supported myself in the lead up to the carnival, to the parents who were timekeepers on the day, the
House Captains who led their teams and to all students who either swam or were spectators. Ribbons
will be handed out at the end of assembly on Friday 21 February 2020 - a special congratulations to
those who achieved a place. Good luck to those students who have qualified and who will compete at the Zone Swimming Carnival on Monday 9 March 2020 at the Warringah Aquatic Centre.
Megan Codling
Swimming Carnival Co-ordinator
Ethics Teachers Required
Allambie Heights Public School's ethics program needs new teachers to start teaching in 2020. We have
had several teachers leave recently and we need new teachers so we can continue to provide ethics
classes to all years. If your child is in an ethics class, please consider volunteering as a teacher or
spreading the word to others who might be interested. It doesn't take much time, the 30-minute classes
are on Wednesday during term time, and it's a very rewarding role. You don't need previous experience
teaching or working with children, all ethics teachers are fully trained to deliver the highly structured,
age-appropriate Primary Ethics curriculum. Classes teach children how to think logically, disagree
respectfully, support arguments with evidence and think about decisions that affect them and people
around them. Allambie Height's ethics teachers include school parents and local community members. If
you are interested, now or possibly later on, please get in touch to learn more, or visit primaryethics.com.au1.
Jon Denly
Allambie Heights Public School Ethics Co-ordinator
Uniform Shop
The uniform shop is open on Friday mornings from 8:45am to 9:30am. Any orders placed on Flexischools
prior to 12:00pm Thursday will be ready for collection on Friday afternoon from the school office. If you
have any questions regarding the uniform shop please contact us by email: [email protected]
Please note the Uniform Shop is now located in the school hall. Follow the corridor opposite the main
entrance and we are located in the office through the second door on the left. The Uniform Shop
information can be found on the school website at the following link: https://allambieht-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/p-c/uniform-shop.html Uniform Shop Coordinators
1http://primaryethics.com.au/ 2mailto:[email protected] 3mailto:[email protected]
Snack Shack
For a full Snack Shack menu, details on how to order and volunteer information and what to do if your child has forgotten their lunch, please go to the Canteen folder in SchoolEnews.
Mel and Mandy
Canteen Managers
Community Notices
Allambie Netball Club
Allambie netball club is a small friendly club that welcomes new players of all ages and ability.
Registrations are now open for Winter 2020 competition.
We're looking for players across all age groups (players turning 8 years old in 2020 through to adults).
Find out more at: http://allambienc.nsw.netball.com.au/
Child Safety Handbook
Below are links where the digital handbook can be viewed:
NSW Police Legacy website –
Child Safety Hub website – http://nsw.childsafetyhub.com.au/handbook/
Strictly Ballroom the Musical - a community event for all!
The Allambie Amateurs is a group of like-minded AHPS parents formed in 2016. We are excited to present our next show - Strictly Ballroom the Musical. Tickets are on sale now and selling fast.
All profits from the show are donated to the school PandC. The past two shows have raised over
$20,000 for the school. This is an amazing fundraiser for parents, as all we ask is your support in coming
to see the show and you will have a fabulous night out at the same time. We can promise laughter,
entertainment, sequins, feathers and some incredible hidden talent. There are three shows being held
on Thursday 26 March 2020, Friday 27 March 2020 and Saturday 28 March 2020 - all commencing at
7:00pm. Thursday night and Friday night all ages are welcome. Saturday night is strictly for over 18s, as there will be a bar in operation.
Please come along and show your support. If you would like to be involved either backstage, helping
with front-of-house, or as a sponsor, please email Jody at [email protected]
Tickets can be booked at: www.trybooking.com/BHOLJ4
4http://www.trybooking.com/BHOLJ
Contact Us
For further information on any of the above news or to chat to one of our friendly office staff please contact us using the details below:
Allambie Heights Public School
165 Allambie Road
Allambie Heights NSW 2100
p: 9451 5440
w: visit us on the web at www.allambieht-p.schools.nsw.edu.au5
5http://www.allambieht-p.schools.nsw.edu.au
