Dear Members of the Glen Waverley Primary School Community,

I trust all is well with you and your family and welcome to this fortnight’s newsletter where so much is shared about our wonderful school.

As per usual, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on 9802 9938 or via email at frank.catalano@education.vic.gov.au.

Father’s Day

By the time this newsletter is published, Father’s Day will be a distant memory for most of us. Nevertheless, I truly hope that all the Glen Waverley Primary School fathers and grandfathers had a wonderful day with family and friends.

May I also take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Caruso and Mrs. Mahajan for organising our school’s Father’s Day stall and the numerous parents who very kindly volunteered their time to implement the store on behalf of the children.

District Athletics Sports

Congratulations to all the children who participated in the recent District Athletics sports as overall it was a very successful day. Please refer to Ms. Lawlor’s report in this newsletter for more information.

Thank you to Gunasekara family

May I take this opportunity to extend a huge thank you to Nethmi (Year 3) and her family for their generous donation of books to our school! Your kindness is truly appreciated and will make a big difference in our school and classroom libraries. Thanks to your support, our students will have even more wonderful reading materials to enjoy and learn from.

Regional Director’s Visit

On Wednesday the 21st August, we had the pleasure of hosting Karen Money, who is the Regional Director in the North East Victorian Region. Karen oversees 420 schools which equates to one quarter of the state of Victoria. The School Captains confidently took Karen on a tour of our school whilst showcasing our STEAM room, the InitiaLit (phonics) program in Years Prep and One and we also visited a Year 6 class where the children confidently shared their writing with her.

Attached are some photos of Karen’s visit and below is an email she sent shortly after.

Dear Frank,

Thank you to you, your amazing students, and staff for a great visit today. The student voice and agency, phonics, explicit instruction, metacognition, structure, and clear routines are so impressive. I wish we could bottle your actions and philosophies across the Region.

Kind regards,

Karen

Karen Money

Regional Director |North Eastern Victoria Region | Schools and Regional Services

Department of Education

Victorian State School Spectacular

After months of rehearsals (both at home and school) this year’s Victorian State School Spectacular will be held on Saturday 14th September. Best wishes to all the children who will be representing our school, themselves and their family in Victoria’s biggest State school musical event. I look forward to providing more information and lots of photos in next fortnight’s newsletter!

Funky Feet Fundraising Event

Our inaugural Funky Feet fundraising event was a huge success with so many of the staff and children coming to school with the most elaborate, unusual and wacky array of shoes and socks. Thank you to everyone who supported this event as we raised some funds to support our sister -school in Nepal, the Jhapa Model English School. Below is a letter from our CIS Captains to the school community.

Dear GWPS community,

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Funky Feet Day event! It was amazing to see the colourful, creative and cool shoes and socks students had worn to school, and the connections made along the way. We are proud to announce that, thanks to your help, we were able to raise a total of $1,010.30 for our sister school, Jhapa Model English school in Nepal!

Your donations will make a huge difference. The money raised will help our sister school in so many ways, such as:

Buying new school supplies, such as books and stationery, so the students can have the tools they need to learn and grow.

Improving classroom facilities to make their learning environment more comfortable and effective, just like ours!

Supporting extracurricular activities (You may know Kelly sports, or the art classes on Wednesdays), so students can build and improve on their skills, as well as learn new ones!

Thank you all for supporting us in this fundraiser, and we’re so proud to be a part of such a generous and caring community. Thank you once again for helping us make a difference to so many learning journeys.

Yours sincerely,

The CIS Captains

Alumni

Congratulations to Alex-Joowon Lee - Hume House Captain, Class of 2018!

We are proud to celebrate the achievements of 2018 graduate and former Hume House Captain, Alex-Joowon Lee, who recently made his debut with Melbourne Victory in the A-League. Alex showcased his talent on the big stage during the Australia Cup, scoring his first goal just three weeks ago. A product of the Victory Academy, Alex's journey from school house captain to professional footballer is an inspiring testament to his hard work and dedication. Congratulations, Alex! Your school community is cheering you on every step of the way.

https://aleagues.com.au/news/melbourne-victory-wellington-phoenix-australia-cup-reaction-goals-highlights-alex-lee-kelly-healda-league-news/

https://melbournevictory.com.au/news/alex-lee-from-the-victory-academy-to-scoring-in-the-australia-cup/

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED A PRINCIPAL’S AWARD RECENTLY:

Prep A

Ashley, Sohana and Tia for writing excellent recounts about their excursion to Como House
Aylen and Milan for working very hard to improve their drawing skills

Prep C

Kaniishka, Jaynmae, Anastasia and Johannah for making excellent progress with their writing
Johannah and Bavitran for writing an excellent recount about text
Deena and Siya for making the most amazing most amazing progress with their writing
Jaynmae, Aura and Hareem for learning about the different parts of our body during MBU sessions
Anastasia and Milaan for writing about why they like their favourite season
Gavindu for drawing a very detailed picture of a flower in a pot
Jaynmae for being a fantastic friend

2A

Reyashi and Abisshna for making outstanding progress with their writing skills. Recently they wrote the text, Spy, Birthday Edition, which was very entertaining
Owen for receiving a medal from Artispeak (public speaking program) because he presented a speech about the mysterious planet Earth

Max and Ethan for being fabulous friends
Abisshna, Jithu, Siana, Amasha, Ray G and Vedanth for writing Funky Feet poems

2B

Ryleigh, Vedanshi and Shivane for learning how to record coordinates throughout our school
Chloe for being very kind and considerate
Vicky for being a wonderful friend

2D

Jamie and Sofia for learning about length by exploring the height of the Eureka Sky deck and the Sydney Opera House
Jamie for writing a very detailed book about the powers of being a superhero
Vivienne for writing very entertaining limericks
Alex for being a very supportive and wonderful friend

3B

Ali for continuing to make excellent progress with his English skills
Jacob for being a very supportive and caring friend
Eesa for wring an excellent letter to his fiends at our sister school, Jhapa Model English School
Agustya and Prayag for making outstanding progress with their understanding of different sounds
Minadie and Marvika for continuing to have amazing attitudes towards their learning

3C

Jimmy, Aadhavan, Japnoor and Ngo Chi for writing excellent letters about our country to their peers at the Jhapa Model English School in Nepal
Pavika for tracing her hand and then making a 3D image of it
Ngo Chi, Nivan and Arnav for learning what occurs when you add different 2D shapes together

3D

Sophie for learning a great deal about area
Shanaya for making outstanding progress with her writing skills

3E

Sineysha for continuing to excel with her writing. She wrote an elaborate piece about a librarian named Rosetta.

4B

Ivan for using his creativity and imagination to create light matrix sequence on the Sphero robots

4C

Neerija and Sam for making outstanding progress with their writing. Both children wrote incredible pieces for Book Week

4E

Tiana for receiving a medallion and a ribbon from a gymnastics competition. The medallion was for participating and the ribbon was for placing second in the vault
Ravya for being a wonderful friend

5A

Hridu for using his creativity and imagination to create light matrix sequence on the Sphero robots to spell his name

5C

Kimaya and Adrisha for working so hard to continue to improve their writing skills. The children have written excellent pieces which are featured in the Kids’ Corner section of this newsletter
Ishaan and Liya for writing excellent pieces about the important people in their lives - their mum and dad!
Tiana for coming second at the Aerodynamix Gymnastics competition

Wishing everyone a safe and happy fortnight,

Frank Catalano

Principal

Birthdays