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Term 2 Week 6 Newsletter

It has been a true delight to welcome back all of our students to full time face to face teaching. Each morning I see so many delighted faces arriving and the buzz of learning in each classroom has been sensational. Our teachers are equally pleased to have their classes back face to face. Huge congratulations go to every one of our families for the wonderful job you have done with home learning over the last two months. We know it was challenging but in true Anzac Park style, we all rose to the challenge and some great results were achieved. We are also so grateful to our teachers for the enormous effort they put into transforming their learning programs to the home context and supporting all of their children through the process with a commitment and sense of care that went far beyond the call of duty. The beautiful staff lunch that was provided last week by the P&C was very much appreciated. Thank you to so many of you for your offerings of gratitude over the last few months. They have been appreciated by us all. As we get back to routine, all teachers are settling your children back into classroom learning. There is a focus on assessing where their learning is at so we are clear on the focus areas for each child moving forward.

Before and After School Routines

Congratulations to the entire school community to adjusting to the new before and after school routines. Within one week we have all adjusted and the procedures are running smoothly. We have continued issues with cars blocking lanes whilst waiting to get into the drop off zones. The police have advised me that the correct procedure is not to queue and block normal traffic movement but rather continue to circle the block until a space is free in the pick up zone. If driving and using the pick up zones I would recommend coming 5 minutes after the finish of the school day (2.50pm for Kindergarten and Stage 2 and 3.20pm for Stage 1 and Stage 3) so that you are not blocking the flow of traffic whilst waiting for your child to finish their school day.

Reporting for Semester 1

Reporting for Semester 1, 2020 will occur but in a modified format. In Week 1 of Term 3, we will provide parents with a simplified written report about students' learning in Semester 1. The modified report to parents/carers will focus on the learning that has taken place so far this year and will include student's progress and achievements, as well as areas for development. Our Term 3 Student Led Conferences will take place as part of our usual assessment and reporting cycle.

Response protocols for confirmed cases of COVID-19

Where there is a case of COVID-19 in the school community, the department has established systems and protocols with NSW Health to manage and respond accordingly to keep our staff and students safe.

Key actions include:

  • Contact tracing to identify all close contacts to a confirmed case. In some instances, this may require closing the school while the contact tracing process is completed
  • Communication with parents advising them whether their child has been in close contact with a confirmed case
  • Thorough cleaning of the school site to ensure the environment is clean and safe prior to the school resuming onsite learning.

Parents will be notified via SMS and email when a decision is made to make the school non-operational for onsite attendance to enable the contact tracing process to take place and/or to have the school site thoroughly cleaned. All families will receive a formal letter from the school to advise what to do if they have been at school on a day when the confirmed case was considered to be infectious.

During this period, educational material will be made available to enable students to continue learning at home. Where there is a confirmed case of COVID-19, specialist cleaning will be carried out at the school site in accordance with NSW Health protocols before the school resumes operations again. Parents and students will be notified by the department when the school is ready to resume onsite learning.

SMS Communication

On Thursday this week, the school will be testing our SMS notification system. This means that you should receive a text from Anzac Park PS on Thursday. The SMS will be sent to both primary contacts. If you do not receive a text from the school on Thursday, please email the school on Friday so that your mobile phone details can be checked.

2020 Nan Manefield Young Writer’s Award

Congratulations to Joanna W for receiving a Commended Award (3rd place) in the 11 years age category.

The Nan Manefield Young Writers Award is a writing prize overseen by Stanton Library and North Sydney Council. Young people, aged between 11 and 18 years, who are a resident of the Sydney NSW metropolitan area, are invited to submit either a poem or short story of up to 750 words. The competition is judged in five age categories by a panel of professional authors.

Joanna entered a short story titled A Seagull Named Jesse . Click on the link below to read her winning story.

Family STEAM Challenge

Boats have started floating in for our family STEAM competition. All boats need to be dropped to the school office by Friday 12 June. The competition will be filmed and shared on the school's Mountain Top website.

APPS Learning Partnerships- We Need You!

As you may be aware APPS has launched our 'Learning Partnerships' program. Out of our potential 3,750 parent volunteers only 30 have signed up to the program! We need you!

Research continues to highlight that partnerships between schools, community and industry are essential in ensuring our students understand and develop the skills they need to be successful in their future careers. Volunteer opportunities include:

  • sharing experiences and skills to inspire our students about different pathways and opportunities for their future
  • consulting with teachers who seek to enrich school curriculum
  • providing students with a real world expert in their area of interest
  • providing students or educators an opportunity for meaningful workplace experiences
  • communicating knowledge or mentoring students via online platforms

We understand that certain partnership opportunities may not be possible at present, however we encourage parents and members of our community to join the project to ensure it can be implemented as soon as possible.

Extra Curricular Activities and Community Users

We were sad to have to put our extra-curricular and community user program on hold at the end of last term as a result of the COVID 19 restrictions. This included all of our creative arts ensembles as well as the many community users who provide before and after school activities. At this stage all of these groups remain on hold but we hope we will be able to return to normal programs soon.

2020 Tell Them From Me Survey

During Term 2, our school, like many other public schools in the state, is participating in the Department of Education initiative: the Tell Them From Me student feedback survey for students in Years 4-6. The survey measures factors that are known to affect academic achievement and other student outcomes. The focus of the NSW-wide survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices. More information about the survey is available at: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au The survey is a great opportunity for our students to provide us with valuable and quick feedback on what they think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. More than 6,300 schools in Australia and around the world have used Tell Them From Me to survey 5.4 million students. Capturing the voices of our students will help improve how we do things at our school. I want to assure you that the survey is confidential. The survey is conducted online and will typically take less than 30 minutes to complete.

Opportunity Class Applications for 2021 Year 5 Placement

The placement process for opportunity class entry in 2021, including the Opportunity Class Placement Test, will be delayed until later in the year. As a result, applications did not open on 28 April 2020. The opportunity class placement will still go ahead in 2020. However, the process for that, including the timeline, will look a little different this year. The Department intend to ensure Year 5 students are placed in opportunity classes in 2021 with minimal disruption to schools and families. The department will continue to work closely with NSW Health to ensure people have access to the latest advice on how to keep staff, students and the community safe. Revised dates for applications, tests and process changes will be announced as soon as they are confirmed. Web pages will be updated shortly to reflect this message. Please continue to monitor the department's website to remain up to date with information relating to opportunity classes.

Spotlight on Sunshine

Stage 3 has been investigating Mathematical concepts by exploring how they apply in real-life contexts. They have been organising a trip to the zoo with friends and taking on the role of a zoo keeper. This has included scheduling timetables, comparing ticket costs, graphing changes in reptile weights over time, and calculating dietary requirements for the ringtail possums.

Congratulations to our Silver & Gold Award Recipients!

P & C Meeting next Tuesday 9 June at 7pm

Due to the current restrictions our P & C Meeting will be held via Video Conference. If you wish to attend the meeting you will need to register and you can do this via trybookings. Please refer to previous email. All registrations must be received by Monday 8 June at 9am and the link will be sent out Tuesday morning.