Dear Parents & Community

We have plenty to be thankful for this week

A great week of Athletics across the school with Mrs Blanas and the Specialist teachers leading three magnificent days of activities. Thank you to the parents who helped supervise and run some of the activities. *Check out the photos on the Physical Education page.

Our Canteen reopened this week and there is a good deal of energy and delicious smells emanating from it. Annette and Rita have been working long and hard to make it a great first week.

SAFEMinds: A mental health parent evening has been organised for 30th July. (BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL) Details below. Almost fully subscribed.

Wellbeing Week

Next week, IPS celebrates Wellbeing Week. Hooray!

At IPS we teach Social and Emotional Learning across all levels of the school, as we know that teaching these skills supports positive outcomes for student achievement, mental health as well as positive outcomes for a students’ future.

As a whole school, we use the week to think about ourselves and others and celebrate being together.

Each day has a different focus, raising awareness of the importance of keeping well, looking out for each other and being grateful.

All grades will have an opportunity to come together with other grades to enjoy fun activities around each day’s focus and to also have a go at some strategies to help us all be the best person we can be. Click on the picture to enlarge then check out NED's Page.

We will also have a special whole school assembly in the school hall to attend Ned’s Mindset Mission, inspiring students to:

Working Bee Years 4 & 5

Sunday 21st july

Thank you to these families who did such a great job on the grounds of our school last weekend. For reasons of privacy we can only publish surnames but rest assured the children were recognised at assembly and received points for their school house.

The sandpits are filled, holes in the oval repaired, water dammed, the front garden renewed as well as a myriad of other tasks completed.

Thank you to the staff who attended and Mr Bull for organising the morning. Once again thank you for your support. At the end of the day it is the students who are the winners.

Scouting achievement

Congratulations to Ranjiv B of the Montmorency Scout Troop on earning the highest scouting honour the Grey Wolf. To attain the top award in each of the five sections of scouting reflects initiative in tackling challenges involving self discipline, teamwork and leadership over a sustained period of time. Only a small percentage reach this level. Well done from all of us at IPS on your achievement.

Good News "great news" Story

A parent of a student in Foundation R wrote to me this week with the following story.

"Whilst we were on holiday in England, Sebastian would walk his nanna’s dog with her every morning, and decided he wanted to collect rubbish each time, after seeing litter in the park they walked in. Another dog owner saw him and asked him about it. She was a primary school teacher and Sebastian explained that he collected litter to keep the "world nice" after learning about this through school and his life in Australia.

The lady was so impressed that she went back to her school (Meanwood Church of England Primary School) and they have created "Sebastian’s Day" where the school collects litter in classes around the local area and have learnt about Australia.

We are so proud of him and wanted to share this with you, as he talked so proudly of his school when speaking to this teacher. I appreciate how busy you all are, but wanted to share this as it was lovely to hear him compliment the school and share what he had learnt there on the other side of the world. The values being instilled through IPS really are appreciated."

See Our School Zone Online

People are often unclear where the boundary of one school ends and another begins. The Department of Education and Training has released a new website that helps parents identify their local public school online.

Findmyschool.vic.gov.au launched earlier this year and shows every school zone across the state. The new website highlights the choice of public schools available to the Victorian community.

If your child is preparing to enter Year 7 and want to know more about the public secondary school options in our area, or you know someone who is interested in enrolling at our school, try findmyschool.vic.gov.au .

Got a friend with children starting school next year? Send this link to help them find their closest public school using findmyschool.vic.gov.au .

IPS Student Podcasts

This week I asked some Year 5 students the following questions.

What does creativity mean to you? Tell me something you would want your teacher to know about you. Think about a teacher you’ve had so far. What are the characteristics of this teacher that you like?

Check out the student news page.

Fight Flu this Winter

The flu isn’t like the common cold, it can hit quickly and last for weeks. For some people, the flu can have serious and devastating outcomes. It’s important everyone in the community plays their part in helping stop the spread of flu. More info at https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/flu

Stopping the spread of the flu is a simple as following three simple steps:

Cough or sneeze into your elbow,
Wash your hands thoroughly,
If you're sick, stay home.

2019 Parent Opinion Survey

Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The Parent Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents. It is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of parents’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour and student engagement. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

Approximately 30 per cent of families will be invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. This year the Parent Opinion Survey will be conducted from Monday 22nd July to Sunday 11th August.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 10-15 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in a range of languages other than English. These include: Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Chinese (hakha), Hindi, Japanese, Somali, Turkish, Punjabi and Greek.

If your name is generated you will be contacted by email.

Please contact the school office if you would like more information.

Curriculum Day 16th August

OSHC can only run if there are sufficient enrollments so please book your place directly through the Coordinator on 9499 5226.

Lunches

If your child forgets their lunch we will do our best to contact you. However, we obviously do not want anyone to starve so if a student has to have a "toastie" from the canteen you will be invoiced for it.

This is an interim solution until we can refine our processes.

Our Fabulous Specialist Programs

Each year we hold Class Information Evenings and in 2019 our marvellous Specialist Programs were showcased on video. By popular demand we make this short movie available again for our community.

Learn something new

How about sign language. Put yourself in someone else's shoes and try to communicate.

Finally to our students

It's hard being a person sometimes. Kid President offers up some advice on how to be a person - an awesome person. Don't forget our school values are not just words. Live them and try and do something kind for another person every day.

"Remember this, you're awake, you're awesome. Live like it."

(Kid President)

We have a great school - let's strive to make it better!

Have a great week.

Mark Kent

(Principal)

http://www.ivanhoeps.vic.edu.au/

Confidence, Independence, Persistence, Resilience, Respect

Stars of the Week

Our IPS Stars