Principal’s News New K-2 Playground Our new interactive K-2 Play Space was opened Monday of last week and is a huge hit with our students and school community. We had to have the large wooden ladder modified so that it was more accessible to our Kindergarten children. Luckily we were able to have this work done quickly last Friday. The sand pit still requires the manufacture of a custom fitted cover which will take a few more weeks to make. In the meantime the sand pit is temporarily closed. The children are enjoying the new soft rubber and synthetic grass areas (transformed from hard asphalt), large seating decks, forts, talking tubes, balance beams, extra shade provided by the lovely COLA and of course the wooden ladder during their break play times. However, students K-6 are also already utilising this new playground area during class time for lessons and in particular group work. This new space provides a lovely shaded outdoor learning area where students can sit comfortably in a flexible learning space.

The official opening of the new playground is this Friday at 5.30pm. I would like to encourage all PPS families to attend Friday’s P&C Welcome BBQ and New Playground Opening. I’d like to thank the P&C in advance for their support and funding of this project. I’d also like to acknowledge our local member, the Hon. Alister Henskens’ support of this project via the Community Building Partnership grant ($40,106) as well as Bendigo Bank’s support ($5,000). I look forward to seeing you all at Friday night’s opening.

Wednesday, 20 February 2019 Term 1, Week 4

DATES TO REMEMBER 22 February P&C Welcome BBQ, 5.30-8.00pm 1 March No PSSA 1 March Zone Swimming Carnival 4 March Tri-Skills 6 March SRC Ceremony (Yrs 3-6, 9.00am) 8 March SRC Ceremony (Yrs 1-2, 1.50pm)

TERM DATES 2019 Term 1 Wednesday 30 January - Friday 12 April Term 2 Monday 29 April – Friday 05 July Term 3 Monday 22 July – Friday 27 September Term 4 Monday 14 October – Friday 20 December

New POOSH Toilets Our fully refurbished ‘POOSH’ girls and boys toilets opened Tuesday of last week. The toilets look fantastic and are a welcomed renovation. I’d like to thank POOSH for contributing $100,000 towards this joint funded project, with the NSW Department of Education also contributing $100,000. Swimming Carnival Two weeks ago PPS held our annual 3-6 Swimming carnival at the PLC aquatic centre. The carnival was a great success and ran very smoothly at the new venue. I was most impressed by the high participation levels across all age groups and events, with so many children having a go and enjoying the carnival. I also witnessed many children not only enthusiastically cheering on competitors from their own sport’s house but also from rival houses. Congratulations to all students who participated in swimming races and to those who placed in a final. I’d like to thank Mrs Venter for organising and coordinating this event.

Parent Teacher Interviews Over the coming weeks parent teacher interviews will be held across K-6. Kindergarten parent teacher interviews will be held in Week 6 and Years 1-6 will be held in weeks 7 and 8. Parent teacher interviews are an opportunity for parents to discuss their child’s progress so far at school with their child’s teacher. It is also an opportunity for parents to ask questions and clarify teacher expectations. Information detailing how to book a parent teacher interview via our online booking site will be provided shortly. Term 1 Statement of Accounts Term 1 school fees statement of accounts were emailed to parents last Friday. The Term 1 statement of accounts includes annual VOLUNTARY contributions and levies (one off yearly payments). It also includes activities, text books, sporting programs and other extra-curricular activities which are all charged at a direct cost to the school and as such passed onto parents on a cost recovery basis only. The Voluntary General School Contribution, IT Levy, Digital Device Levy and Art/Craft Levy in the Term 1 statement of accounts are all VOLUNTARY fees and levies and there is no obligation on any family to pay these voluntary contributions. Please note, that children will not be disadvantaged because of a family’s inability to pay school fees and when raised with the school Principal, these matters will always remain absolutely confidential. If at any time you wish to discuss financial matters, please contact the school and make the necessary arrangements. Parking Please show respect for our neighbouring residents and the road rules by parking legally on streets surrounding PPS. Already this year I have received complaints from some residents on Rushall Street and Crown Road about parents who have parked fully or partially across their driveway. Parking across a driveway is illegal and more importantly very inconvenient for the resident concerned. Bruno Diodati Principal

Relieving Deputy Principals’ News

Congratulations to all of our Primary children for the exemplary way they conducted themselves at our swimming carnival. The day went smoothly and all children showed great sportsmanship. It was great to see so many children participating. Thank you to Mrs Venter for all her hard work in organising the day.

The official results are displayed on the wall of the 3V classroom. Any child whose name is highlighted will receive a ribbon at the 3-6 assembly next week. Parents are warmly invited to attend.

The SRC badges will be presented in Week 6 at both the K-2 and 3-6 assemblies. Parents are welcome at these assemblies.

Any child who rides a scooter or bike to school should wheel it through the school and leave it on the bike rack next to 4H. It is recommended that children bring a lock to secure their bikes.

Please note that mobile phones brought to school must be switched off before the child enters the school gates and only switched back on when they leave the school grounds.

We look forward to seeing as many families as possible at the P&C Opening of the K-2 Playground on Friday night. ( see note included in this newsletter for details).

Parent Teacher Interviews will be taking place for each of the grades, later this term. Kindergarten parents will have the opportunity to attend interviews in Week 6 of this term and parents will receive a note for this shortly. Bookings are made online and are open to Kindergarten parents only, from Friday of this week. The website is www.schoolinterviews.com.au Parents will require a code to login, which is detailed in the note.

All parents are asked to sign a 'Permission to Publish' note each year. It is up to individual parents to provide permission or alternatively, not to. Please understand that should you not agree to your child's photo being published, we will not be able to include photos of him/her in the school newsletter, photos of the class which go home to class families, our website or whole group photos at class excursions.

Robyn Herbert / Deb Pegolo Relieving Deputy Principal’s

K-2 Playground Opening

We're officially in the full swing of Term 1 at PPS and the P&C are holding our first event of the year; come and celebrate the opening of our fantastic new playground on February 22nd! Of course PPS events wouldn’t be such a resounding success without help from our community. Volunteering is a great way to meet new parents and engage with the students. The links for volunteering are below - we look forward to meeting you all on the night! There will be a sausage sizzle at the event, as well as drinks and zooper doopers. To purchase sausages or a meal deal, please follow the link below. And don’t forget to bring gold coins for zooper doopers! TO BUY SAUSAGES AND DRINKS ONLINE; https://ppspandc.org/shop/sausage-sizzle TO HELP OUT ON THE BARBECUE; https://doodle.com/poll/2r28gy97mgxmvw6m TO HELP OUT AS A CHAPERONE; https://doodle.com/poll/wbqzdmwtfuwr4aqd Look forward to seeing old families and new on the night! Kate Walther kateparker76@optusnet.com.au

Library News

Library lessons have begun and it is great to see so many children remembering to bring their books and bags to the library when they arrive at school. Whether the library is open or closed, children are always able to return their books. The process of remembering and returning books, and bringing their library bags in in the morning is a great job for learning to be responsible and independent.

If children forget to bring their books or bags on their class library day, or if they want more books, the library is open each day, either in the morning or at lunch with borrowing available to them.

Over the next couple of weeks the library welcomes a new group of Library Monitors. Each year a small group of year 5 and 6 children give up a lunchtime session each week to help in the library. It is one of those “unsung hero” jobs which helps make our library a better place for everyone.

As this year’s routines and schedules start to settle down, there may be some parents, or grandparents, who are able to lend a hand in the library (with jobs to do either at school or at home). This help, no matter how infrequent, is invaluable in ensuring that our library is the best it can be for the children. Please contact me if you are able to help, or indeed if you have any questions about the library

Miss Harris Teacher Librarian

Scripture 2019

Each year we receive questions about Scripture at Pymble Public School. A new document has just been published by the Department of Education on the 30th January this year at the link below:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/associated-documents/REimplementproced.pdf

Within this document it is stated: Provision of SRE

‘Principals must allow time for SRE where authorised representatives of approved providers are available. SRE is an integral part of school activities, taking place during school hours and under the jurisdiction of the school.

Principals must ensure that no academic instruction or formal school activities occur during time set aside for SRE.’

Scripture will begin next week,(Week 5) of this term. Please note that in K-2 we are currently not offering Ethics due to lack of teachers. There will be a Year 2 Ethics class as of Term 2. Parents are welcome to volunteer to teach this program at any time. For information regarding this, you may contact Dr Robert Urquhart at pymbleps.ethics@gmail.com

Should your child have been in an Ethics class in 2018, he/she will be placed in a Non Scripture class until an Ethics teacher becomes available. Alternatively you may prefer to move your child to an Anglican, Catholic or Hindu class.

We have limited Ethics classes in the Primary and are only offering it in Years 4 and 5 at this stage.

Deb Pegolo and Lucinda Holbrook Scripture Coordinators

Clean Up Schools Day

Next Friday, 1st March, is Clean Up Schools Day! In the lead up to this PPS will be holding Nude Food Week.

During the week of 25 February – 1 March we are encouraging children to bring a nude lunch to school each day. This means that lunches should contain no packaging or plastic wrapping. We encourage the use of reusable tubs as these are much better for our environment. All classes from Kindergarten to year 6 will be entered into a competition to see which class brings the least amount of waste to school.

After fruit break on Friday, each class will spend 5 minutes picking up the rubbish that they find around the school.

Students will be supervised by their teachers in their designated clean- up area. All children should bring gloves to protect their hands during the clean-up.

Kate McMahon and Ariane Newell.

SRC Badge Ceremony Reminder for Years 1-2 and 3-6

The Years 1 - 2 SRC representatives for Semester 1 (Terms 1 and 2) will be presented with their badges during Week 6. The ceremony will be held on Friday, 8 March and begin at 1:50 pm. Please note that this is not at the usual morning assembly time. The Primary SRC representatives will be held on Wednesday, 6 March and begin at 9:00 am. Parents are invited to attend this brief ceremony and the presentation will take approximately ten minutes. Ariane Newell, Alex Ryan and the PPS SRC representatives

PSSA Weekly Reports

It was an exciting start to PSSA this year. We have 4 rounds of summer PSSA this term. Congratulations to all teams for starting off the competition with confidence, effort and resilience.

Boys Cricket

Junior

Who we played: LINDFIELD

Our team played well. I think we should practice a little bit more on bowling Aahaan, Max and Tom played sensationally well. Max and Aahaan bowled well.

Senior

Who we played: Lindfield Win/Loss: WIN!!!! Score: PPS 166 LINDFIELD 60

We batted very well but in our bowling we need to practice more as we gave away a lot extras especially wides. Players who were outstanding this week included: Andrew hit two sixes and made 26 runs. Jeremy & Charles took three wickets in one over

Girls Cricket

Junior

Who we played: Killara Win/Loss: Win Score: 99 – 97

The team put in a great effort when fielding and bowling, whilst managing to gain two more runs due to their awesome batting. 2-3 players who were outstanding this week: Ruby for 2 amazing 6’s Saisha for 3 wickets within 1 over Ilana for amazing sportsmanship

Senior

Who we played: Lindfield 2 Win/Loss: Win Score: 108 - 14

The team had a great day fielding not allowing any balls though to the boundary. They enjoyed themselves whilst batting and managed to score a few fours. Outsatnding players this week included: Chloe Hu for good batting Emily for awesome free hits Phillipa for fantastic bowling

Modball

Junior

Who we played: St Ives Win/Loss: Loss Score: 14-5

The team played well for the first game. Still learning the rules and match awareness. There was lots of team spirit. Chloe Bird, Emma McKindley, Eloise Jenkins were outstanding this week.

Senior

Who we played: St Ives Win/Loss: Tie Score: 10 – 10

The team batted really well but they need to work on their communication. Anais Drysdale and Keira Rothfield were outstanding this week.

Junior Touch Football

Junior Touch football are spending a few weeks learning the ropes of League Tag. This is because the NRL are coordinating their PSSA competition. This week they took part in rotation activities at Hassell Park. The boys and girls teams participated with enthusiasm. Students who stood out as outstanding were Hamish, Jake, Lachlan G, Lucy, Hannah and Sienna.

Senior Touch Football

This week at NTRA the senior touch football teams had their first training session. They played some friendly games against each other, working to improve their passing, positioning and familiarising themselves with the rules. While they did not compete against other schools, the captains, Saxon, Max, Emilia and Georgie did a remarkable job leading and communicating to their team mates. Katrina Hann PSSA Co-ordinator

PPS School Stream app

Have you downloaded the School Stream app?. You can download the app for free onto as many devices as you wish. All parents are strongly encouraged to download our new PPS School Stream app. Should you have any questions regarding the app or trouble downloading the app please visit the school website for easy to follow instructions.

Newsletter Articles

Please note for all ‘Myalla’ news, information is to be directed to the following gmail address by Monday, 3pm. Notices after this time will be placed into the newsletter for the following week. Thank you.

pymblepsnewsletter@gmail.com

Uniform Shop Opening Hours Please find below the opening hours for the Uniform Shop.

• Tuesdays - 1.30pm – 4pm • Thursdays - 8.15am – 10.30am

Lost Property In 2019, please help us keep the lost property area tidy by returning items back into the buckets provided in Items with NO NAME will be sent to the 2nd Hand Uniform shop and proceeds from these sales will be used to fund school improvements.

2nd Hand Uniform Shop dates for 2019 TBA for 2019

School Enews To subscribe for the Myalla to be emailed to you please follow the prompts below. Go to the School website link: www.pymble-p.schools.nsw.edu.au ‘Newsletter and Notes’ ‘Subscribe’

Prayer Group

Christian Prayer Group will meet every Friday morning at 9.00am

If you have any enquiries, please contact Jackie Tham (jackietham@yahoo.com.au)

Community News

ST IVES Softball Club 2019 Winter Season

stivessoftball@gmail.com Contact: Cheryl 0419 512 711

Competition starts 27th April 2019

MCCARTHY STUDIOS 2019

Classes in the Hall at Pymble School Friday 3.15 to 4.45pm Kindy/Year 1 - Dance/Drama/Singing 3.30 to 7pm Junior - Musical Theatre/Drama/Singing/Dance Wednesday 3.15 to 5pm Years 2/3- Dance/Drama/Singing 4.30 to 6pm Junior – Singing/Dance For times and further info, please email info@mccarthystudios.com.au

Learn to play the acoustic guitar in a friendly

environment. Learn to play your favourite songs.

Beginners and intermediates are welcome. Please contact Bernadette Palmer on

0400 364 064.