Welcome to Term 2,

Term 2 is in full swing. The students have returned well and rested and already there have been some wonderful learning experiences and great teaching and learning happening every day!

As the months become colder it is important that our children come dressed warmly to school and it is a good time to check that our students are wearing correct uniform. The Uniform Policy is available on our website if you need a reminder as to what is the correct school uniform.

Staff

As always our community is everchanging as staff pick up positions or take a break for such wonderful events as becoming parents. This year is no different and I am happy to share with everyone that 3 colleagues have recently become mums and consequently are on Family Leave. Cass has given birth to a baby boy, Terry, a baby girl and Jane, a baby boy. We welcome to our school Anne Doan (Garnet), Nathaniel Meilak (Ruby) and Lisa Anderson (Prep team) and Lorrelle Schwarze (Education Support). We thank Anna Daley for her work in Garnet in Term 1.

NAPLAN

You may well be aware that there have been some issues for schools that have taken up the online option for NAPLAN. TSPS is one of those schools. I want to assure our parents that the infrastructure within our school to manage the delivery was very adequate and the issues appear to lie with the NAPLAN administrators. We were able to revert back to the paper and pencil option upon advisement from NAPLAN administrators, who are also currently reviewing and considering what action will take place next. I was disappointed and concerned for the students who did experience frustration and anxiety and I can only apologise for a situation that was out of the school's control.

Curriculum Dates for 2019

I ask all families to please note that Friday June 21st is a Student Free Day. On this day, Truganina South Primary School will host 5 schools within our network. The focus for the day will be 'Writing' and we will have a guest speaker, Misty Adoniou, expert in this area working with 250 teachers. A great for schools to showcase and share their best practice.

Please also note that the last curriculum day for 2019 will be Monday November 4th, Melbourne Cup Eve. This day has been set aside for teachers to work on End of Year student reports .

Assessment and Reporting

At Truganina South we work through continued process of reporting to parents. Every three weeks teachers update and set learning goals and record student achievement on COMPASS. At the end of Semester One and Two, parents receive a final report for that semester. These reports should be read alongside the 3 weekly goal setting and achievements in COMPASS. I ask that you make it a regular practice to check COMPASS regularly through your child's portal. Semester One reports will be available in the last week of Term 2 and Parent Teacher Interviews will be conducted at the beginning of Term 3. Details about making bookings for these interviews will be made available closer to the event.

Parents Meeting with Teachers

The school home partnership is a relationship very much valued at TSPS. We encourage parents to be informed and involved in their children's learning. Conversations with teachers are important. I remind parents that conversations with teachers need to be made through appointments. Teachers are very accommodating and will make themselves available. There are times when teachers need to attend professional meetings and i ask that they be prompt so meetings need to be conducted in a timely manner and consideration needs to be given to when teachers are available. Another very important matter to consider. When teachers are instructing in their classrooms, please do not walk into learning spaces to have a conversation or meet with them then. The time needs to be negotiated respectfully. Parents are also reminded that students must not be removed from classrooms without a leave pass from the office.

Events

As always there are wonderful events happening at TSPS all the time that bring our community together. I thank everyone who was involved in the Move-a-thon last term. I am pleased to announce that we raised $7000.00, of which $5500.oo was profit. These funds will go to good use for our students and I'll inform you the purchases made using these funds.

Our school choir performed for a distinguished audience including Premier Daniel Andrews on April 7th at the official opening of the VISY packing plant at Truganina. The students sang "I am Australian" with passion and pride and represented TSPS brilliantly. Thank you Jenn for being a wonderful choir master.

Our ANZAC DAY commemoration, led by our student leaders, was well attended and moving. A small group of students also attended the Dawn Service in Werribee on ANZAC morning with Brendan Chugg and Jacinta Porter. A lone pine has been planted at the front of the school, joining our rosemary bushes and Anzac Oak previously planted and this will be a place in the school which we will develop as a place of history and commemoration.

Our Mothers Day Stall was a huge success. To Rhonda Velkovski, our School Council President, and our wonderful parents (

Hsuimei Huang, Sharland Uankino, Meenakshi Singh &

Joanne Simurina) who prepared our beautiful gift packs and manned the stall, a huge thank you. The gifts were beautiful and the students really appreciated the selection. To all the wonderful women who attended our Mothers Day afternoon on Friday and spent time in the classrooms with your children, thank you so very much. The planned outdoor picnic was marred by the weather but your spirit and enthusiasm wasn't dampened at all and your children loved having you in the learning spaces. Feedback is always appreciated and if you have some, we'd love to hear from you. I do hope all had a lovely Mothers Day.

Drop offs zones: .

Again I find myself writing about traffic issues. Just another reminder that the school has two clear two minute drop off zones- one on Parkvista and the other on Federation. These time restrictions must be adhered to as the flow to traffic is being impeded. People are then making very dangerous choices and not exercising patience. Students must walk across the road at the crossing.Please don't beckon them to run across the road to you. Also please note we have "No U Turn" signs clearly displayed as well and these must be followed. Must it take an incident or worse still an accident before we respect these rules? As adults we must model best practice and safe road management. Please be vigilant.

Congratulations

I am delighted to announce that our Science teacher extraordinaire, Vanessa Smith has been declared a finalist in the Teacher of the Year category for the Resource Smart Schools Initiative. Our school has also been listed as a finalist in the School's Team category. On June 13th Vanessa and four students will represent TSPS at the award ceremony to be held at the MCG. Sarah Connolly, MP for Tarneit and wonderful advocate for TSPS, visited yesterday to meet with Vanessa. Sarah informed Vanessa that she will be acknowledging her work in Parliament when she addresses the members soon. Sarah informed the students who were with Vanessa at the time that her name would be recorded in Hansard and would be forever a record of her work and achievement. What a tremendous acknowledgement. I applaud Vanessa's dedication and commitment to sustainability and for her leadership of the school community's work in this area especially. Every best wish , Vanessa. Go our Green Team too!

Reminders

School Photos: This coming Monday and Tuesday our school photos will be taken. Monday and Tuesday. Lots of smiles and happy faces!

Prep Enrolments 2020: Enrolments are currently being taken for our Prep intake for 2020. Families must be in the zone. Please ring the school on 92961800 or pop into the admin office for further information.

Drop Off Time at School in the morning: Students are NOT to be at school before 8.30. There is no direct supervision prior to this time as teachers are preparing for the day and not actively supervising out in the yard. Please make other arrangements.

Education Week: Will be celebrated across the state this coming week. May 19-26. the focus this year is 'Future Careers'At the moment there is so much going on that AT TSPS we have made a decision to celebrate the week of May 26-Jun 2. We will be hosting a family evening on Thursday 30 May. We will also be acknowledging "Reconciliation Week" (theme- Grounded in Truth Walk Together with Courage) and will acknowledge our First Peoples at our family evening. Stay tuned for details.

Wakakirri: As for last year, we have many students committed to this wonderful event. Rehearsals have begun and I can confirm our performance will be on Aug 5th at the Geelong Performing Arts Centre. I thank Jen Stirk for her leadership.

On a final note: I am travelling to China next week for 7 days with Brianna Morelli. We are visiting schools in Shanghai and Nanjing provinces to forge sister school partnerships between our schools. In my absence Michael Gerber will be Acting Principal.

再见

Zàijiàn

Yours in Education

Linda Danese

Truganina South Primary School Newsletter

Issue 3 · 19 May 2019

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