5 March 2025

Template Article - School Motto

Principal’s Message

Great start to the year

It has been a great start to the year for our school community. Students have settled in well to classroom routines and learning programs are well underway.

Our Kindergarten Best Start Interviews are complete and all other grades have completed their assessments that are planned for the beginning of the year and help us create flexible groups.

Meet The Teacher Evenings

There was a lovely feel in the school at our Meet the Teacher evenings. All teachers have provided a Grade Overview of the learning that is planned. If you missed this, contact your class teacher for a copy.

I've received some lovely feedback about how well the students have settled in and how much they are enjoying their new classroom.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent teacher interviews will be held in Week 9  (Monday 24 March - Friday 28 March) and Week 10 (Monday 31 March - Friday 4 April) of Term 1. This is an opportunity for a one on one meeting with your child’s class teacher. KB will hold their Parent Teacher Interviews earlier as Miss Brown is getting married later in the term.

Bookings are made through Schoolbytes. We will be opening bookings to parents Monday 10 March at 9am. We will include instructions on how you can book your time slot.

If you have trouble understanding the booking process, please let your class teacher know.

Attendance Matters

The evidence is clear that consistent attendance is the essential first step for your child to have a successful schooling experience.

Every day matters for your child’s learning. In recent years we’ve seen too many students miss a day or more for family holidays. Please try to plan your holidays for the holiday period. Missing school for students means missing assignments, time with friends, an important maths lesson or getting picked for a sports team. With days missed, years are lost.

The more time your child attends school, the greater their opportunity to learn, make new friends and improve their wellbeing. Together, let’s build positive attendance habits for a lifetime.

After School Activities

We have a number of long term providers who provide wonderful after school activities in a variety of areas for our children. Last week at our After School Art Class on Thursday 27 February, Miss Manaya finished her art class 5 minutes early and was abused by a couple of parents. She did not leave the children but the tidying up was quicker than she expected.  Miss Manaya has a waitlist for her wonderful art classes so does not have to put up with parents who are abusive. Please be mindful of how you are speaking to our teachers including those working after school hours. 

Former student Success

The following is a lovely email from a parent of a former student who has achieved remarkable success in his educational journey. We are very proud of Michael.

Michael M (graduated in 2018) has been awarded a full scholarship for his 4 years of Music honours Performance on classical viola at the Conservatorium of Music, Sydney. This means no HECS debt.

He achieved a fabulous 93.25 ATAR with Band 6 in 3 subjects, including Maths Advanced, Music and Music Extension.

There is no doubt that his interest and passion in music is largely attributed to his experience with the St Ives North music program, string orchestra, Band Camp opportunity, and School Spectacular.

Michael has also excelled in Maths, English and Economics which I believe is thanks to his excellent grounding in primary school.

He has also been accepted for Commerce at University of Sydney and will consider combining this as a double degree in his second year, or as a post grad masters.

Thank you for your valuable contribution to his educational journey affording him options and dreams beyond our wildest imaginations. 

Enrolment has commenced for 2026 - School Open Days

Our first two school tours for prospective new kindergarten 2026 or students from any other grade for enrolment in 2025 or 2026 will be held this term.

Our school was once again ranked in the top 5 performing schools in NSW, including achieving better results than most private schools. Our focus is on the development of the whole child and we provide a wide range of additional extracurricular activities as well as a variety of after school clubs. We have an on site Before and After School care centre as well.

All interested families are welcome to attend.

The school tour dates for Term 1 are:

Tuesday 11 March at 9:30 am - Meet at the main administration entrance
Tuesday 25 March at 9:30 am - Meet at the main administration entrance

On the tours you will explore our wonderful facilities, meet our principal and deputy principals, visit classrooms, hear about our wide range of extracurricular activities available for our students, ask any questions you have and hear a performance from one of our 7 musical groups.

There will also be a Presentation evening on Thursday 15 May at 6pm for new families to learn more about our impressive school. Please see the flyer below for more information.

Preschool Kindy Playgroups

We will be holding informal playgroups for prospective 2026 kindy students. One of our expert kindergarten specialist teachers will run the playgroup. Parents and children have an opportunity to stay and play in our expansive play areas. This gives the preschool students an opportunity to get to know their future school and meet new friends.

Playgroup visits are on:

Tuesday 18 March at 9:30 am - Meet at the main administration entrance  

Tuesday 1 April at 9:30 am - Meet at the main administration entrance  

Please see the flyer below for more details.

Easter Hat Parade

Our K-6 Easter Hat Parade will be held on Wednesday 9 April. All parents and grandparents are welcome to attend. More details will follow closer to the time.

Lunar New Year Gift

Thank you to the P&C for providing a surprise Lunar New Year gift for every child. It's lovely that we celebrate and embrace the diversity of nationalities within our school.

Our School’s Harmony Day will be celebrated on Wednesday 26 March. Students are welcome to wear their national costume or an item of clothing in orange. Parents and grandparents have been invited to share their culture with the classes. A more detailed email has been sent home to all families.

Defibrillator

Did you know that our school has a defibrillator on site? If required, this is located in our school office and is available for use by anyone on our school site within school hours.

Christine Taylor
Principal

Deputy Principal’s Message

Welcome

It is wonderful to see all of our students settled in and our amazing staff in full swing with teaching and learning programs. Walking around classrooms, it is evident that students are engaged in their learning. They will be working on developing their literacy and numeracy goals with their teacher/s over the next few weeks if they haven’t already done so. We look forward to a busy and exciting year in 2025.

Phones at school

While we understand that some students require a communication device for use before or after school, students at our school are to have their phone turned off when they arrive at the school gates and stored in their bag until they leave school.

Silver Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received their Silver Awards at assembly:

Year 1: Charlotte C (1B), Skye L (1B), Adam Y (1B), Xichen Q (1C), Ian Z (1C), Lukas F (1M), Islan Z (1M), Iryana J (1T), Bilge S (1T)
Year 2: June D (2BW), Lucas L (2BW), Milan G (2M)
Year 3: James C (3LH), Benedict W (3LH)
Year 4: Maddy G (4M), Bevis Y (4M), Oscar K (4Y)
Year 5: Suri L (5G), Aimee W (5N), Nila B (5W)
Year 6: Myra G (6GC), Daniel H (6GC), Alistair H (6H), Emily L (6T), Sihan X (6T)

Bronze School Spirit Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received their Bronze School Spirit Awards at assembly:

Year 5: Suri L (5G), Katherine A (5W)
Year 6: Olivia G (6H)

Naomi Shacham and Daniel Gorrie
Deputy Principals

K-6 Years News

Year 6 Cupcake Day

The Year 6 committee is organising the Year 6 fundraiser Cupcake Day on Tuesday 18 March. Please click on the poster below for more information.

K-6 Student News

Swimming Carnival 2025

The Swimming Carnival on Thursday 6 February started the very first day of the 2025 school year with excitement and the school spirit was alive and vocal at our carnival. The shade of the aquatic centre was quite convenient in the relatively hot weather. It was amazing to hear the students cheering on their friends and house members. Luckily we had enough time to swim the House Relays. The 2025 Swimming School Carnival will definitely be the most memorable as the day ended with many school records being broken and the oldest being from 1997. Overall it was a great and exciting way to start the year!

Arnik S 6GC (Arana House Captain)

The SINPS Swimming Carnival 2025, was held on the first day of our school term, bringing  lively sports spirit back to school, and excited roars on the first day. All student competitors were on their own way to the top, and our new 2025 House Captains and Vice Captains raised some house spirits, cheering, dancing, and making posters for their houses. The Swimming Carnival was well organised, with many swimmers in the pool. It was a fantastic day!

Jae A J 6H (Arana Vice Captain)

Library News

Borrowing

It's been wonderful seeing everyone back and borrowing in the library and we are encouraging students to explore our collection and to read often and widely.

Please remember to bring your library bag to the lesson every week as well as returning those books you've borrowed so you can get into a regular routine of borrowing and returning.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The Premier’s Reading Challenge 2025 is now open. The aim of the Challenge is to encourage a love of reading and an opportunity to explore quality literature. Last year we had over 90 students who completed the challenge and we're hoping more of you will get involved this year. 

Register at https://online.education.nsw.gov.au/prc/logon.html using your DoE login (your teacher will be able to help you with this if you don't know what it is). 

Please click on the documents below for ideas about the type of books that can be logged for the Premier’s Reading Challenge.

Art in the Library

We want your art! Our frames are empty and waiting to be filled.

The theme for art this term is Everyone Belongs. Bring us your amazing artworks based on the theme of celebrating diversity and belonging. What does this mean to you?

Maybe you could:

• Create a drawing or painting of you and your friends
• Create a self portrait
• Illustrate your favourite food - Eating together is a wonderful way to celebrate diversity
• Illustrate a traditional costume

We can't wait to see what you produce!!

Sport News

Judo

Tristan Y (4H) fought in the ACT Canberra International 2025 judo competition on Sunday 28 February in Goulburn. He was in the U/11 age group and he won a Silver medal.

Congratulations Tristan!

ACT State Athletics Championships

Bailey V (3MW) competed at the ACT State Athletics Championships in Canberra on 22 and 23 February.

Bailey had a very successful two days by winning 6 medals:

• Gold - 60m Hurdles
• Gold - Long Jump
• Silver - 200m
• Silver - Discus
• Bronze - 100m
• Bronze - Shot Put

Congratulations Bailey!

P&C News

2025 P&C Executive Committee

On Tuesday 4 March, the 2025 P&C Executive Committee were voted in at the P&C AGM. Thank you to the following people for serving on the P&C Exec for another year or for the first time:

Government Grants

In collaboration with the school, the P&C has developed a comprehensive schedule of contributions in 2025 to enhance our students’ school experience.

In the context of cost of living pressures, the P&C is looking beyond traditional family fundraising to fund these contributions to the school.

We are currently underway with three government grant applications and planning to expand our sponsorship offerings to local businesses. Thank you to Kate Kirk, P&C Treasurer, for all her work on these submissions.

Roshell Boulton
SINPS P&C President

Community Noticeboard

Newtown High School of the Performing Arts

Newtown High School of the Performing Arts is a specialist high school that accepts enrolments through audition and from their local drawing area.

Please click on the flyer below for more information about their audition process for entry into Year 7 2026. 

St Ives Softball Club

St Ives Softball Club has their Come and Try Softball Fun Day on Sunday 9 March. Please see the flyer below for more details.

Extended Leave Application Form 

For travel of four days or more, please complete the online form through the link below or in the School Bytes parent portal in the Forms section: 

Volunteer Declaration Form for parents/carers wanting to volunteer at our school

The Department of Education has digitised their screening process and you now only need to complete a digital declaration. Parents and carers who would like to volunteer at our school for any reason (e.g. canteen, class helpers, reading groups, athletics carnivals, special events, etc.) are required to complete a Digital Volunteer Declaration.

Prior to commencing volunteer work, please contact the office to provide your full name, email address and mobile number. The Department of Education will then send an invitation via email to you to complete an online Digital Declaration. Next time you attend the school, you will need to present a photo ID to finalise the screening process.  

We understand you may have already been through the screening process, but we are asking you to redo your declaration form through this new process.

Change of Student Details Form

Parents can now update student contact and address details by completing the online form through the link below or in the School Bytes parent portal in the Forms section: