School Council & 

Junior School Council 

Fruit and Vegetable Fundraiser

It has been a rewarding experience to see the positive uptake of our school's Fruit and Vegetable offer over the past fortnight. 

During the first week of the initiative being offered, we had 31 orders placed. This was then followed by 34 orders in the second week. It has certainly proven to be a service which has been able to meet the current needs of our community. 

We are currently working with our provider, Local Farmers Direct, to explore options which may be able to be offered during early Term Four.  

Junior School Council News

JSC Cooking Challenge- a huge success!

Thank you to all the USPS families that contributed to the JSC Cooking Challenges. We had some amazing cakes, cupcakes and masterpieces submitted that all looked so yummy!  

It was amazing to see how creative everyone could be, and we are lucky to have so many creative students and families at USPS.  

Have a look at the amazing cakes and dishes below! WOW, WOW, WOW!!!

It has been wonderful to see that so many of our JSC members, and other students have taken the time to make a difference across our community. 

Below is one example that has made a positive difference:

Masks for Life - A family remote learning project!

Zorro Facemasks is the superhero handmade face mask initiative started by our families at the start of Term 3 coinciding with the recommendation we all wear facemasks. Zorro really took off as masks were made compulsory and we have been making and selling cloth facemasks since. Zorro was a famous superhero who protected and stood up for disadvantaged people so we decided all our profits will go to our chosen charities to support children in need. Those charities are:

• Caleb House - an orphanage of 20 children on the island of Ambon in Indonesia that the Walker family visited last year that left a lasting impression on them.  Three of the children have special needs and some of the children contracted HIV and were cast out of their families because of their condition and would otherwise have no place to live. Other children have lost their parents and are unable to be supported by other relatives. Things are tough in Ambon at the moment due to coronavirus. People are encouraged to stay home and a test costs around $70 and for many that is almost their monthly wage.
• Team Sports for All - a Melbourne based community organisation that supports underprivileged children and their families by providing access to club-level team sports and mentoring for kids who would otherwise be unable to participate.  Support is provided in the form of funding for participation (registrations, uniforms, equipment & clothing) as well as mentoring and emotional support for kids & families.

Every member of our families has been involved in some way-

• Will & Zane dreamed up the idea of starting up something
• Kaye (Zane and Jake’s mum) came up with a facemask prototype we were all happy with
• Darren (Zane & Jake’s dad) came up with the name Zorro
• Zane designed the look and feel of the logo
• Peta (Will & Jack’s mum) set up the Facebook page
• We experienced the power of Michelle Johnson as the advertising queen 😊
• Extended family donated beautiful material, a sewing machine and accessories!
• Will designed an advertising flyer
• Zane, Will, Jake & Jack help with sewing and sorting
• Jake helps with choosing the right thread colour for masks
• Zane & Jake are experts at flipping masks right side out
• Zane, Will, Jake, Jack & Finn help with courier work
• Chris (Will & Jack’s dad) helps with backend accounting spreadsheets!
• Peta looks after incoming orders, customer liaison, cuts material and sews mask layers
• Kaye sews, packages & photographs  masks
• Even Finn (Will and Jack’s little brother) has helped delivering flyers!

We raised over $2000 in 7 weeks during Stage 4 lockdown and are excited to donate over $1000 to each of our chosen charities and the causes that we care about. Who knows how much more we will raise?

Making face masks has been a great learning experience for everyone involved with Zorro face masks. It has also covered lots of curriculum subjects such as: P.E – Running, scootering, riding our bikes and walking as we deliver supplies and masks. Maths - looking at numbers and learning about excel spreadhseets and working out how many masks we needed to make to get to our fundraising goals. Art – Doing lots of cutting of materials and even watching Mum use the sewing machine. Writing – We did persuasive writing and advertising for school work and so I did mine to advertise and sell masks (it worked on Miss Henchley Shhhhhhhh 😉) and then we printed it out and did a letterbox drop in Upwey. Making masks has been a fun and sometimes tiring process (once Mum stayed up till 2:00am and that same night Kaye stayed up till 1:00 am because we had so many orders 😊☹ I don’t know if I should be ☹ or 😊 or impressed 😊) I think making masks has been a good way to make our remote learning a bit more applied to real life and it was enjoyable because every day I would have to ask Mum during break time if there was any thing to deliver to Kaye’s. Sometimes I didn’t really want to go because I was tired or not in a good mood but I went every single time because it was my job to do as the courier. So I think making masks has been a really fun experience. The best part has been raising so much money to give to our charities so that kids who really need it get some extra support to live well and participate in activities that we get to do all the time.

Will 3/4B

My brother and I have been running, walking and riding up and down from Kaye’s house to our house delivering masks and supplies. One time Mum made us go up to Kaye’s house 3 times back to back!!!!!!! We’re giving the money that we raised to charity, and we have reached one thousand dollars for each charity!! We are giving the money to people who really need it. 

Jack 2A

It started when my mum (Kaye) started to make face masks for us since they were compulsory. They turned out really good and our friend Peta Cartwright needed some too. Around that time Will and I had been talking about starting a business but we weren’t allowed at the time. But then we came up with a fantastic plan to make face masks and give the money to disadvantaged kids that don’t have food, medicine or even parents with no jobs and to give them some help. That is when mission Zorro took place.  We have had a lot of support and have raised more than $2,000. If you would like to buy one just go to Zorro facemasks on Facebook.

Zane 5/6A

It was hard to make all of it happen as we didn’t know how to go about it but somehow we did it. I didn’t know how it was going to happen but I am very proud of our families. I have discovered that I am capable of doing things that I didn’t know I could do. I found out I have new talents. I am good at designing. I am good with colour. I am good at organising. I am good at coming up with ideas. I can turn a mask from inside out to right side out through a small opening! 

Jake 2B

By Zane (5/6A), Will (3/4B), Jake (2B) & Jack (2A)

School Council President Piece

As we near the end of Term 3, I can honestly say that we are rapidly running out of steam in our house! We are looking forward to the holidays for some relief from the ongoing juggle that has continued to be life in 2020.

With all the challenges this year has brought for schools, I had cause to reflect in the past week on how challenging it must have been for teachers to build and maintain connections with students this year in the remote setting, particularly with students who they may not have previously taught. Our teachers have had to utilise very different strategies for getting to know our kids and staying connected with them over this time. For some, the online environment will have been challenging, but for all, they have had to adapt, experiment and hone new skills in keeping connected with individual students and encouraging connections between kids. I feel really grateful for the effort and sincerity that I have seen our teachers invest in students over remote learning. I have no doubt that it is these relationships that will bridge the distance between remote and on site learning in Term 4. 

Throughout remote learning, the school has continued to roll out maintenance and improvement works which will be a great welcome back for the students in Term 4. From painting, to new flooring in toilets, playground repairs and new lighting, our little school is looking fresh and is ready to go!

A sincere thank you to Janet Young, who has proficiently project managed these maintenance works for the school this year. In addition, we thank Janet for all of the work she has undertaken while she has been with us as Business Manager and her contributions to School Council. We wish Janet well and look forward to welcoming Clare Butterworth back to the role in Term 4.

In Term 4, School Council will be reviewing the 2021 indicative budget and undertaking a School Council self assessment. 

As always, if you have any queries about any of the functions of the School Council or would like to be involved on a subcommittee, please feel free to contact me. 

Hang in there everyone!

Peta Cartwright- School Council President

Peta.Cartwright2@education.vic.gov.au

For information about how to get involved with a School Council Subcommittee, please visit:

 USPS School Council Link