Messages
ANZAC Day Assembly
Welcome back to all families and I hope you had a wonderful Easter break. Today we held an ANZAC ceremony with a guest speaker, Peter Mercoulia from the Hellenic RSL, South Melbourne. Tomorrow, the 25th April 2019, marks 104 years since the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (or ANZACs) landed at dawn at Gallipoli during the First World War. These soldiers displayed great bravery but also suffered horrific loss of life. Today, ANZAC day goes beyond the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli in 1915. It is now a day in which we remember all Australians who served and died in war and on operational service past and present.
Help Needed
We would appreciate some help to build a small barrier around our playground equipment area.
We want to lay mulch over the existing surface to make it even safer for our students.
Is there anyone in our community who who could advise us on the best possible way to construct the barrier and help supervise the construction, please contact the school office.
If there are any parents who could assist with helping out in any way please call Wendy 96992928 by Thursday 2 May.
Year 3-6 Friday 26th April Mass OLMC
Year 3-6 students have a Parish Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel (OLMC) on Friday 26 April at 9am. We ask that students are dropped off at the church by 8:50am. Teachers will walk the students back to school at the conclusion of the mass. We have sent a Care Monkey permission form for them to travel back to school on a bus in case of wet weather, please be sure to sign it.
Parents Battle of the Bands
The D.O.G.S Parents’ Band is participating in a ‘Battle Of The Bands’ with six other local primary schools including: St. Kilda Primary, St. Kilda Park Primary, Elwood Primary, East Bentleigh Primary, Gardenvale Primary & Ripponlea Primary.
The Parents Battle of the Bands will be staged at the Prince Bandroom (29 Fitzroy St, St Kilda) on the 23rd May, 2019. This is an all parent event with the funds raised used to expand the musical education programs and improve facilities for participating schools & help further our children's musical education. It is also a great opportunity to connect with the different school communities and have a lot of fun. All proceeds will be redistributed pro-rata of parents’ attendance/number of tickets sold by each school.
Tickets are only $17.85 online (or $20 at the door on the night) so please support our wonderful school by purchasing tickets and sharing the event with your family, friends and neighbours – the more tickets our school sells, the more money we will raise for our school.
It promises to be a fun night.
Tickets on sale at:
https://princebandroom.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/5c825f55-9477-4ca2-b814-91cf6ddb77fb & make sure you purchase your tix via the Galilee Primary – D.O.G.S ticket tab!!
Also Visit Us at: www.parentsbattleofthebands.com & Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parentsbattleofthebands & Instagram: @parents_battle_of_the_bands
Second Hand Uniform @ Galilee
Open: Friday mornings 8.50-9.10am
EXTRA DAYS:
- Tuesday 30th April 8.50-9.10
- Friday 3rd May 8.50-9.10am
Located in Prep Building
Donations of clean/well cared for uniform happily accepted.
Year 6 Proposal
Together as the Year Six students of 2019, we have come to the realisation that something has been dramatically impacting our learning. Each day we waste vital learning time waiting for our teachers to collect us from the line and walk us back up to our classroom. Did you know that at times we can lose eight - ten minutes a day? It may not seem like much but it adds up to forty - fifty minutes of potential learning a week! Our learning time is more precious than ever, being leaders of the school we are often tasked with jobs outside of the classroom and so, as a group, we have decided that we want to make a change. We have decided that we, the Year Sixes, are more than capable to walk up the stairs by ourselves after recess and lunch. We hope that this idea will save countless hours throughout the year, allowing us to get the most out of our learning.
As Year Sixes we have been granted many extra privileges that we are extremely appreciative of. We are hoping to add just one more to the list as we really believe that we can benefit from it. So why are we telling you about this? Well, we will be trialing this proposed additional Year Six privilege over the next two weeks.
Thank you for taking the time to read our thoughts in this week’s newsletter and have a great ANZAC day from all of Year Six.
If you wish to see the persuasive letter text to Mr. Millar then here is the link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d4ZsW9jayv6gbA9G_5gbwmOZvwYtPdp9JgOm7QSDGxM/edit
By Alex C, Dylan L and Abby L
Winter Uniform
The summer uniform may be worn for the first 2 weeks of Term 2. This means all students must be in their winter uniform by Monday 6th May.
A reminder the microfiber jacket is to be worn over the woolen jumper for extra warmth not on it's own.
Woolworth's Earn and Learn
Galilee is participating in Woolworth's Earn and Learn. From May 1st 2019 to June 25th 2019, for every $10 you spend you will receive one sticker. Please collect these stickers on sticker sheets and place into the box which will be located in the school foyer.
Year 4 Eucharist Faith Education Evening
On Wednesday May 1 at 6pm in the school Hall in Week Two next term, a Eucharist Faith Night has been planned for Year 4 students receiving the Sacrament from Galilee and surrounding schools who are also preparing for the Sacrament at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St Joseph’s and Sts Peter and Paul. Parents/guardians are also required to attend. Students will work with their families on a range of different activities to develop an understanding of the Sacrament, share experiences and make links between Scripture, the Catholic Tradition and our lives today.
Congratulations!!
Congratulations to Luca B in 4G for achieving 3rd place at the State Swimming Championships. A great achievement!!
Break Times at Galilee: Coping with Limited Space
Galilee is a wonderful school! The children are happy, cooperative and keen to learn. The support staff are dedicated to working with teachers and children to develop knowledge and skills at each child’s point of need; and the teachers are a collaborative, high-achieving group who strive continually to bring about the best outcomes for every child in the school. During class, the children are safe and the learning spaces are well-resourced and spacious.
But what about break times? It is clear that at Galilee, we have limited space for our growing number of students, and this has been an issue of concern for a number of years. In Term 4 of 2018, the school held a parent forum at which strengths and areas for development for the school were raised and discussed by parents. It was a wonderful opportunity for the parents of the school to contribute ideas for school improvement. The limited space available for children during breaks was one of the issues discussed and a number of ideas were presented to help with this problem.
Of course, staff had also been considering ways of improving the break-time situation, and it is not surprising that the suggestions made by parents aligned with those made by staff. After all, we are all here for the same purpose: safety, happiness and best outcomes for our children!
Some of the ideas discussed by both parents and staff included:
- Introduce activity clubs during breaks
- Open more play spaces/areas for the children
- Reduce the length of the longer break
- Stagger play breaks (have breaks for junior children at different times from senior children).
Despite the necessity for teachers to be rostered on a greater number of break-time duties each week, at the beginning of 2019 we initiated the first three of the suggestions: We now have five play spaces available during each break – the basketball court, the grassed area and playground, the hall, the library and Learning Street. As well as these, we have also a ‘Safe Space’ where children can retreat to relax in a quiet, protected space. This has meant that we now have twelve staff on duty during each break, rather than eight, but the feedback from children and staff has been very positive.
As well as this, we have lunchtime clubs operating daily, including an Art Club, robotics, sports, chess, drama and Choir. These clubs are becoming increasingly popular with children from across the school, and have helped to alleviate congestion on the playground.
Also, this year we have changed our break times from one thirty-minute break and one fifty-minute break to two forty-minute breaks. As many of the injuries and incidents between children were occurring in the last ten minutes of the longer break, this change has had a significant impact.
The final suggestion made by both parents and staff alike was the idea of staggered breaks to alleviate congestion in the playground. This suggestion was not as straightforward to implement, so it was decided that a trial should take place through which we could discover the pros and cons of such an arrangement. The trial took place on Monday, April 1. We deliberately chose a day upon which specialist classes were not running and upon which there were no whole-school events scheduled, as this was the simplest timetable to adjust. Obviously, if staggered breaks were to be implemented throughout the week, then specialists, incursions, whole-school events such as masses and special days would need to be considered. Staggered breaks meant that only three areas could be opened, as staffing was limited.
Following the trial, feedback from both the children and staff was overwhelmingly unfavourable. The Staff held a meeting and all Student SRC members collated feedback from their classes and included the following:
Pros (staff) - Less congestion with P-2 (though not with 3-6); less children on computers in the library; children playing with others in similar class levels.
Pros (students) - Easier to get a ball; get space from friends, buddies or siblings in younger grades who are a bit clingy; could go on either court.
Cons (staff) - Just as many, or more, head injuries; disruption to learning caused by extra bells and children playing outside during learning times, as well as shortened blocks not allowing for solid learning in the morning; transitions between breaks caused congestion on the playground and the stairs; older students became disengaged in the afternoon block; additional duties meant less collaborative time spent with other staff.
Cons (students) - couldn’t be with their buddies/siblings; not as many play areas to choose from; the afternoons were long for 3-6s and the morning seemed too short; a longer wait for the younger ones to eat; older children were not there to hand out balls/equipment.
Staff have agreed unanimously that staggering breaks is not an effective option in dealing with congestion on the playground, but that the implementation of forty-minute breaks, activity clubs and the addition of two play areas daily have contributed to the minimisation of injuries and incidents between students, which were the main issues of concern during breaks.
Congratulations and thank you to all students, parents and staff who participated in the process. We are pleased that we were able to investigate suggested options and to have demonstrated that three of the four options have been both viable and successful in making the most of our play spaces during breaks.
Simon Millar
Principal of Galilee