This Week At OOPS
Harmony Day - Celebrating Respect for Others
We were excited to celebrate Harmony Day as a whole school on our Term 1 Wellbeing Day, with a focus on our core value of Respect for Others. The day provided a meaningful opportunity for students to recognise and appreciate the diversity within our community.
Students took part in a range of activities designed to build understanding of different cultures, traditions and perspectives. A highlight of the day was our Reading for Pleasure buddy sessions, where students from all year levels came together to share stories and connect through reading. Each student also created a handprint to showcase their identity and cultural background.
Harmony Day was a wonderful opportunity to strengthen our inclusive school culture, celebrate what makes each of us unique, and reinforce the importance of kindness, respect and belonging for all. Thanks to everyone who made the effort to dress up.
Student Leader Conference
On Thursday last week, the student leaders had a wonderful opportunity to participate in the GRIP leadership excursion which was held in the Melbourne Convention Centre.
To get to the city we took a train with Duncan and Ben from Blackburn station to Southern Cross station. Then we walked to the Convention Centre from Southern Cross station. Then when we got to the Convention Centre we got in our seats and then it was time to start.
First we did ‘The Challenge’ which was were we had to choose between two options and draw the one we wanted. After we did that 4 times we compared answers with other schools, and the first person to find 6 people who had the same answers as you, got to go on stage to talk about their answers. Next we discussed what leaders should do at our school and the ways to show integrity. Some of the quotes we learnt were “most people chose what’s easy but leaders chose what’s necessary.” We also learnt what to do with a new idea, with the 4 C’s. Then we did loud noises which is where we try to yell louder than the other side of the room. We also had to guess a song name by looking at pictures which represented the song title.
During the day, we learned how to become a better leader and how to make the school a better place. We all had lots of fun and learnt so many new things.
- by Harriett, Sul, Ivy, Levi and Shae
Barefoot Bowls and Big Smiles!
What a fantastic night everyone had at Saturday’s Barefoot Bowls Welcome Event! It was wonderful to see so many families come together, and it’s safe to say everyone had a great time enjoying the relaxed atmosphere, friendly competition and plenty of laughs.
Even when a little drizzle rolled in later in the evening, it didn’t dampen spirits—instead, it just brought everyone inside where the dance floor quickly came alive to DJ Mark’s tunes!
A huge thank you to Sarah Alligan for her incredible work in organising such a fun and welcoming event, and to Mark Walsh for keeping the energy high as our resident DJ.
Thank you to everyone who came along and made the night so special—we love seeing our community in full swing!
Launching Old Orchard Homework Club!
In term 2 we will be trialling Old Orchard’s first ever Homework Club! We will provide a classroom environment to support students in developing regular independent homework routines.
Homework expectations and capacity look quite different from family to family and student to student. For these reasons we understand that one size does not fit all. What we do know though is that repeated practice consolidates learning, builds neural connections, supports the transfer of learning to new situations and builds on long term memory.
Our new Homework club aligns with our Home learning Policy.
The details –
Students must be booked in via try booking (bookings are limited)
Students must be collected from the classroom (A7) at 4:15 sharp.
Our expectations –
Homework club is a quiet and focussed space where students can work on revising work that has been covered in their classroom. Students will be in years 3 – 6 only. Students will work independently during the club. We encourage students to bring along their daily reading text, to bring in work they have covered in class for review, to bring along extension or support work they may have been directed to in an IEP (individual education plan) or to develop their mental maths work with times tables practice.
Students will be supervised by a teacher each week however that teacher will not be providing additional instruction or individual support.
Dates available –
Tuesday 21st April
Tuesday 28th April
Tuesday 5th May
Tuesday 12th May
Tuesday 19th May
Tuesday 2nd June
Tuesday 16th June
Please note - Bookings will open the at 9am the week prior to the Club session
If you have further questions about the Club please reach out to either Clare Murray (clare.parsons2@education.vic.gov.au) or Jen McCann (jennifer.mccann@education.vic.gov.au )
Homework Club (reference information)
We use the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 (VTLM 2.0) to guide our practice at Old Orchard Primary School
Elements of learning
The four elements of learning in the VTLM 2.0 are based on insights into the process of learning from cognitive science, neuroscience and education psychology.
The four elements of learning in the VTLM 2.0 represent these key findings from the evidence-base:
- Attention, focus and regulation: Learning requires students’ active engagement and focused attention in order to move new information from working memory to long-term memory. Student learning can be supported by minimising distractions, setting appropriate levels of challenge, using rules and routines, and establishing learning environments where students feel accepted, valued and that they belong.
- Knowledge and memory: Working memory is the active workspace for engaging with knowledge, skills and concepts. Learning happens when new knowledge moves from working memory to long-term memory. Long-term memory is where information, including our memories, are stored and new knowledge is linked to existing mental models.
- Retention and recall: As working memory has limited capacity, it is best supported if new information is introduced in small, manageable chunks, a task is not too difficult for the current level of knowledge, there are no visual or auditory distractions and there are clear expectations and consistent rules and routines. Practice using new information facilitates transfer to long-term memory and retention. Recalling new knowledge strengthens the connections in long-term memory and makes it easier to apply.
- Mastery and application: Spaced, varied and repeated practice consolidates learning, builds neural connections, supports transfer of learning to new situations and leads to ever more complex mental models in long-term memory. This in turn supports retrieval and application of knowledge. Students can more effectively engage in problem solving and generate new learning once they have acquired the relevant knowledge