Staffing

Mrs Green will be taking leave for the remainder of the term and myself (Jono Coombes) will be relieving as Principal. Ms Wolski will be relieving as Deputy Principal and Mr Sherley will be up in the office as our off class Assistant Principal. Ms Mullen who has been working with the Year 2 team from the start of the year will be taking 2NS and working closely with Mr Sherley around continuation of class programs.

NSW Covid Test Requirements.

The Department continues to communicate with schools in regards to guidelines and requirements for us to follow. Our office staff are doing an amazing job keeping up with new protocols they must follow and are often calling parents about students having to receive a negative COVID result prior to returning to school. Please see the below statement from thE Department that we must follow:

• In accordance with advice from NSW Health parents and carers are reminded NOT to send children to school if they are unwell, even if they have the mildest flu-like symptoms.
• Students and staff with flu-like symptoms will need to be tested and provide a copy of a negative COVID-19 test result and be symptom-free before being permitted to return to school.

Year 5 Camp

Congratulations top all studentsb in Year 5 who went off to camp last week. It was great to see you all jump off the bus full of excitement from your adventures. A huge thank you to the teachers for taking the students away and providing them this amazing oppoportunity, it is very much appreciated and without them this would not be possible.

Girls Cricket

Congratulations to our Girls Cricket team who today played against Oyster Bay PS in the first round of the NSW State PSSA KO.

Regardless of their result, I would like to share that the school received an email today from a member of the community praising the girls for their manners and behaviour when walking through Artarmon . It is always great to have positive messages from our community and we should all be very proud. Well done girls.

This morning I had the pleasure of meeting with our Class Parents for 2021. It was a great opportunity to discuss the role of the Class Parent and meet everyone whilst enjoying some morning tea. Thank you to all of you for giving up your time this morning, and we look forward to working with you all throughout the year. Further, I would like to acknowledge the contribution of our P&C President and Vice Presidents this morning as they provided the morning tea and also gave us some insights into their experiences as a former Class Parent. 

Information will be coming out to all families from your nominated Class Parent, early next week, so please keep a look out for this. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who expressed an EOI to be a Class Parent this year. We had an overwhelming response and are truly grateful for the willingness to support our staff and students. Although you may not have been successful as Class Parent, there will be opportunities throughout the year (depending on COVID-19 guidelines) where your assistance will be very much appreciated and I encourage you to keep a look out for such opportunities. 

Thank you,

Mrs Karina Page

Deputy principal

Year 3 Term 1 News

Year 3 have begun an exciting year of learning!

To support this term’s learning in visual arts, Year 3 participated in an incursion during Week 4 entitled ‘Cartoon Clay Scenes’ with Raw Art. We created our own scenes and then a clay character for our scene.  We learned many techniques when working with clay.

Year 3 have also begun PE or fitness. Each week we spend about an hour on the oval practising fundamental movement skills, such as dodging, striking, jumping, through a game-sense approach to learning.

Please take a look at the gallery of photos below and see how much fun we are having while we are learning! 2021 is going to be an amazing year.

The students have been busily enjoying various art and craft activities run by our SLSO's during lunch times. As we are getting more and more students participating in this activity, our supplies are running low and we are seeking some donations of things like: wool and craft resources, textas and paper. If you have any craft type resources lying around at home or are happy to purchase (Kmart have some fantastic craft kits that could be used for a variety of different activities) and donate items to the school, we would really appreciate it. Items can be left at the front office for Mrs Page to distribute for use by the students.

Thank you in advance,

Mrs Karina Page
Deputy Principal

BAND NEWS 

Band parents, in addition to email communications, we encourage you to regularly check Newsflash for upcoming events and important band updates. We will publish advance dates as soon as we know them to help you plan the year!

Band Committee meeting/AGM

Band Committee AGM and Term 1 meeting with be held this evening at 7pm (Wed 3^rd March) via Zoom. Band parents are welcome to join. See link following:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82207242518

Meeting ID: 822 0724 2518
Passcode: 844412

Band Rehearsals

Training Band rehearsals start this Friday (5^th March). Training Band rehearsals are held weekly on Fridays from 8am to 8.50am.

All other band rehearsals have started:  

• Junior Concert Band: Mondays 12.50pm to 1.40pm & Thursdays 8am to 8.50am
• Concert Band: Mondays 8am to 8.50am & Thursdays 12.50pm to 1.40pm
• Senior Concert Band: Tuesdays 8am to 8.50am & Thursdays 2pm to 2.55pm
• Orchestra: Wednesdays from 8am to 8.50am
• Jazz Band: Thursdays from 3pm to 4pm

All band rehearsals are held in the school music room. For rehearsals before school, students should arrive at school promptly at 7.50am so that the band rehearsal can start by 8am.

Tutorials:

Small group tutorials and individual in-school tutorials have started.  Parents have been emailed tutorial details (including tutor name, tutorial time, tutorial day and location).

If you have a question regarding your child’s tutorial, please email your Tutor in the first instance. Alternatively, email tutorband@artarmonpandc.org.au.

Important note – All Students participating in the Band program are expected to take lessons (at school or externally) in their band instrument. If you were going to arrange an external music tutor but now need in-school tuition, please email Jane/Rebecca, our Tutor Coordinators (tutorband@artarmonpandc.org.au).  

Creative Kids Voucher – Reminder to Apply Now

As you may be aware, the NSW Government will continue to contribute a $100 Creative Kids rebate this year for NSW residents.  It is the same as last year and similar to the Active Kids rebate in that you can claim it against the cost of your child's activities from a registered provider and you can only claim it once from one provider for the year.

The Artarmon P&C is registered as a Creative Kids provider for the band and strings programs. We have set up a form on the Myschoolmusic parent portal for you to provide your Creative Kids voucher number to us.

If you would like to use a Creative Kids voucher to reduce your 2021 band fees by $100, then please follow these 3 steps by 22 March 2021:

• Apply for a voucher for your childon the Service NSW website:  go to https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-creative-kids-voucher. You should do this now.
• As soon as you receive your voucher (it will be emailed to you by Service NSW), log in to the Myschoolmusic parent portal Music Portal Login, answer YES to the question on the Creative Kids form andenter your Creative Kids voucher number  and the other details.
• When you receive an invoice by email from the band treasurer for your ensemble fees and instrument hire,pay $100 less than the total amount on your invoice as soon as you receive it.  Please note that this discount may already be included on the invoice.

If you have more than one child please follow the process for each child individually.

If you have a child who is in both band AND strings, you can only reduce your band OR strings invoice by $100.

Note that instrument tuition fees which are paid direct to your tutor are a separate fee which must be paid in full unless your tutor advises you that they are a Creative Kids provider. In that case you can choose to use the voucher for your tutorial fees instead of (but NOT as well as) your band/strings fees.

Please note that due to the number of children in the band and strings programs, we are unable to process refunds on the band or strings fees if you pay the full amount and decide later to apply for a Creative Kids voucher. You must pay $100 less on your band or strings invoice and tell us your Creative Kids voucher number by Monday 22 Mar 2021. Thank you for your understanding.

If you do not intend to claim the Creative Kids rebate as part of your 2021 band or strings fees (eg. because you are not eligible or have already used it with another provider), then:

• Please pay the full amount of your band or strings invoice as soon as you receive it.
• Log in to the Myschoolmusic parent portal Music Portal Loginand respond NO to the question on the Creative Kids form. You can do this now.

Any questions please email band@artarmonpandc.org.au

Instrument Hire

If you have hired an instrument, this is a reminder to read, complete and return the pink slip asap. Pink slips can be found inside the hired instrument case and should be returned to the Band mailbox near the school main office.

If you have a question regarding instrument hire and maintenance please contact Kirsteen, our Instrument Coordinator at apsbandinstruments@gmail.com

Parent Portal – Update Class Details

Classes for 2021 have been confirmed and communicated to parents.

If your child is enrolled in Band, please log into the Parent Music Portal and update your child’s class details this week. This is important information we need for scheduling & communication purposes with the school.  

https://portal.msmusic.com.au/artarmonmusic

Questions?

For general questions, please refer to the Band Information Pack which is available in the Parent Portal and on the school website under Music Programs. Band rehearsal times for your child(ren) and the name of your Band Coordinator(s), once assigned, will also appear in the Parent Portal when you login.  

If you have a question about your hired instrument or instrument tutorial, please contact your Tutor in the first instance. Alternatively, contact our Instrument Coordinator or Tutor Coordinators.

• Instrument Coordinator: Kirsteen Daly (APSbandinstruments@gmail.com)
• Tutor Coordinators: Rebecca Wall & Jane Absolum (tutorband@artarmonpandc.org.au)

THANK YOU!

Email: band@artarmonpandc.org.au

Strings parents, please remember to check Newsflash regularly for upcoming events and important updates. We will publish advance dates as soon as we know them to help you plan your year.

Don’t forget to subscribe to SZApp for String Ensemble News. Found under Manage tab, choose the String Ensemble to keep in the loop with any alerts to upcoming events and updated news.

Diary Dates

Invoices

Invoices for Strings Annual Fees 2021 will go out this week. Please check your email for invoice details. The payment of invoices is due 12 March and prompt payment is appreciated. If you intend to use the Creative Kids voucher towards the payment of strings fees, please ensure you pay $100 less than the total of your Annual Ensemble fee. If you have any questions related to an invoice or payment, email stringstreasurer@gmail.com

Helping with Strings

We still need to fill in many volunteer roles to assist with Strings 2021. Certain roles only require an hour for one term. Other roles require a little more time. The more people who help out, the less any single person has to do. The smooth running of the Strings Ensemble relies on the dedicated team of parent volunteers.

Informative videos to help with string instruments.

If your instrument is out of tune, do not forget to have a look at these informative videos to help with string instruments. These videos will assist with how to tune and take care of the violin. These have been most helpful to ensure the violin is in tune during practice. Please watch with your child. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOP1ht4mHt0bLr-boSTZ9ig/featured

Ensemble rehearsals:          

2021 Strings Committee