Whole School Photo

The whole school photo will be taken this Monday, 11th November, after morning assembly and before Remembrance Day Observations.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day, also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day, is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I, to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This day, is also recognised as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries.

Remembrance Day is observed on 11th November each year, to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month," in accordance with the Armistice, signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. "At the 11th hour" refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 am. World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June, 1919.

On Monday 11th November at 11:00am, Staff and students at Ormond will observe one minute silence to remember the armed forces who have served and are currently serving their country.

Picture: Students proudly show off the Remembrance Day display situated in the Library

Student Banking

There are significant changes coming to the Student Banking system as of 2014.

Currently, any student who makes a deposit receives a token. When 10 tokens are received the student may redeem their tokens for rewards.

As of 2014, there will no longer be a token system. Student deposits will be automatically calculated and when the students reaches 10 deposits, the Student Banking Coordinator (Brodie) receives an online notification of which students are able to redeem prizes.

Tokens from 2013 can not be transferred over into 2014 and the new system. If students have 10 or more tokens, they must redeem them for rewards before the end of Term.

** No prize tokens/orders will be accepted after Thursday 5th December to allow time for delivery before the end of the school year.

For further information please visit the Commonwealth Bank website or see Brodie in the office.

Library News

Scholastic Book Catalogues have been sent home with this week. This is the last one for the year and good opportunity to purchase Christmas presents. All orders and payment must be returned to the office by Friday 22nd November. No late orders will be accepted.

Cheques are to be made out Scholastic Australia NOT Ormond Primary School. If using your credit card please make sure that only one slip is filled per child for the total amount of your order and correct cash must be included in a sealed envelope, clearly labelled with the students name and class.

Environmental Team News

** Calling all sustainable gardeners **

Glen Eira City Council is launching a ‘Neighbourhood Sustainable Gardening Program’ for the residents of Glen Eira. Residents that have (or are planning) a vegetable patch, compost system, local indigenous plants or keep chickens can join the program.

Registered gardeners will receive a welcome pack including a sign that can be attached to their fence, be sent regular updates on local events (run by Council and community groups) and locally specific gardening information.

The program is designed to tap into and build on the passion, knowledge and skills of residents as gardeners and managers of open space. Households, businesses, schools and other properties can register their gardens.

Registration can be done online at www.gleneira.vic.gov.au

Ormond Primary School is very proud to be a part of this sustainability initiative and eagerly awaiting our welcome pack!

For further information, contact Council’s sustainability education officer on 9524 3333 or email mail@gleneira.vic.gov.au

** Free program to reduce household energy costs **

The Glen Eira City Council has recently launched the ‘Glen Eira Energy Saving Program’ which is designed to encourage households to have energy saving products installed in their homes at no charge. Energy saving compact fluorescent lights; door draught seals; chimney draught seals; standby power controllers; and water and energy saving shower-heads are being offered for free under this program.

Council has partnered with Energy Makeovers to implement the program across Glen Eira. To participate, households simply sign a form to confirm that they agree to have the products installed and to assign the rights to create Victorian Energy Efficient Certificates (VEECs) to Energy Makeovers.

Energy Makeovers is registered to create VEECs from eligible activities under this program, which it then sells to energy retailers in order to offer the products and installation to residents for free.

For further information and to book an installation, contact Energy Makeovers on 1300 788 776 or request an appointment online at www.energymakeovers.com.au/energy-savers.html

Level 3 News

Level 3 Rainforest inquiry unit, “Looking Through the Canopy”.

Grades 3 and 4 began Term 4 with our exciting Inquiry Unit ‘Looking through the Canopy.’ The focus is on life in a rainforest and the central idea for our unit is, “Our planet is fragile so it is important to have ecological balance” and “Living things rely on each other for survival”. We have been busy transforming our classrooms into tropical rainforests. Look at all our lovely learning and creativity.

Interesting Rainforest Facts...

Rainforests give us oxygen, medicines and food. Thomas & Lachlan 3A

One out of four plants is used for making medicines. Mia and Oscar 3A

There are two types of rainforests, Tropical and Temperate. Tropical rainforests are found

near the equator. Emily 3A

The Amazon Rainforest in South America is the largest rainforest in the world. Oliver K & James 3A

Plants called Bromeliads fill up with water and small animals such as frogs live in them. Aidan Abidi 3A

About 2000 trees per minute are cut down in the rainforest....so let’s do everything we can to help. Rebecca Mathews 3A

Did you know 1 out of 4 ingredients in our medicines is from rainforest plants. Elise Clarkson 3C

Did you know tropical rainforests are home to about half of all the world's species of animals? Andrew Meek 3C

Did you know 80% of the flowers in the Australian rainforests are not found anywhere else in the world? Dee Dee El-Osta 3C

Did you know that only 2% of sunlight reaches the forest floor in rainforests? Hyun Cho 3C

Did you know that sloth's stay still for so long that moss and algae grows on its hair? Also, the sloth spends so much time upside down that their hair grows in the opposite direction! Holly Anderson 4B

**Student Rainforest Poetry**

Rain falling on giant spider webs,

Animals are happily running between the trees,

Inside the rainforest insects crawl,

Natural rainforest,

Falling leaves softly land on the wet ground,

Oxygen flowing from the trees,

Rain falls steadily,

Endangered animals running from predators,

Spiders crawling across their webs,

Tall trees growing up to the sunshine

By Alyssa N 3B

Rain falls softly on my head,

As animals lay between the leaves,

Insects crawl,

Nature comes out,

Foolish Monkeys swing between trees,

Our air is fresh and clean,

Rain falls on spider webs,

Endangered species live in Rainforests,

Sunshine sparkles through the wet leaves,

Trees fighting for sunlight,

By Georgia Foran 3B

Rain falls softly on my head,

Animals live all around rainforests,

I like rainforests because they have lots of animals,

Nature takes place everywhere in a rainforest,

Forests are nice, rainforests are better,

Our air is made mostly from rainforests,

Rainforests are hot because they are near the equator,

Emergent layer is so amazing with its exotic birds,

Sun does not reach the forest floor a lot,

The rainforest are tropical and temperate.

By Holly Langley 3B

There once was a very tall fern.

When it was hot it started to burn.

It started a fire

And then it got higher

Now the planters have something to learn.

By Meg Pearson 4A

There once was an idiot butterfly

Who ate a poisonous fly.

She lay on the ground

Making a horrible sound

All because of the evil fly

By students in 4A

Science - The Rainforest Canopy Experiment by 4B

We read that in a rainforest an adult tree must die for a seedling to live? It’s hard to believe that there is so little light on the floor of a rainforest that this must be so! We tried the following mini experiment to find out for ourselves. We cut the tops off three clear bottles, half-filled them with rich soil and planted 6 similarly sprouted beans in each. We covered bottle A fully with a “canopy”, bottle B with a canopy with some spaces between the trees, and left bottle C uncovered. We water and measure the highest “tree” in each bottle every second day. On the day of planting, we made some hypotheses about what might happen.

My hypothesis was the seeds that are fully covered by the canopy will grow the slowest but they are growing the fastest. I think this is happening because they are trying to race to the top where they will find light above the canopy. David Canta 4B

My hypothesis is the canopy will affect the growth because plants need a certain amount of sunlight. Lucy Robertson-Reid 4B

I think the canopy will stop the seeds growing as much as they could if they had the full sun. Jessica Twyford 4B

We’ll wait two more weeks to see if our hypotheses are correct.

Level 3 Maths News

Recently Year 3 & 4 students have been learning about decimals and percentages and division. We have completed several hands on investigations on these topics. For some reason the ‘Oreo’ cookie investigation was a real winner.

Maths Olyimpiad

During the year 30 students from Years 5 & 6 have participated in the Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads.

The Olympiads consist of five separate challenges held approximately one month apart between May and September. The overall aim is to encourage students to develop important mathematical problem solving skills in an enjoyable environment.

Although students are competing against other members of their class and teams from other schools, they are primarily competing against themselves and learning new skills. This year the Ormond Team achieved a score in the top 25% of team scores in their division.

These students will be presented with their certificates for representing Ormond Primary School so well at assembly on Monday 11th November.

Websites of the Fortnight

Linked below are two educational and fun interactive sites to explore at home. Just click on the link below and you will be directed straight to the website.

http://www.miamiopia.com/

http://www.moneyville.ie/

Out of School Hours Care

After School Activities