School Council update

Our final School Council meeting of term is taking place on Wednesday 4th September, in the staffroom at 6:30pm.

As always, all members of our community are welcome to attend his meeting. During it we will be discussing our progress against our 2024 Annual Implementation Plan, the School Basketball court project, discussing the current building works and discussion of 2025 planning.

Prior to this meeting, our sub-committees will be meeting next week to complete their important work.

Sub-committees are groups of staff members and interested community members who collaborate to make a particular area of our school stronger. If you are able to come along and attend a meeting, we would love to see you.

Group Name and focus

Next meeting date and time

Location

Contact

Buildings and Grounds

- To oversee the condition of our school buildings and grounds and plan improvements.

Wednesday 28th August

6pm

School Staffroom

Neil Scott

Fundraising

- To coordinate fundraising and community events for the school community

Thursday 22nd August 6pm

Bowls Club

Neil Scott

Education and Policy

- To support the development of a comprehensive and inclusive curriculum, monitor the Annual Implementation Plan and develop school policies

Wednesday 28th August 8:15am

School Meeting Room (Office)

Michelle Bove

Stranger Danger

We have been made aware of a couple of concerning incidents in recent weeks of students attending schools in the Malvern/Toorak area being approached by strangers who asked them to get into their cars when travelling to and from school.

Whilst not in our immediate area, it is a timely reminder to have proactive conversations with children about how they respond to unexpected encounters.

Below are some key points we should reinforce with our children;

Never talk to strangers - remind your child not to engage in conversation with strangers without a trusted adult present.
Don't accept gifts or rides - children should never accept gifts, rides or other offerings from people they don't know.
Stay visible - encourage your children to walk in groups, use well-lit paths and avoid secluded areas.
Know what to do - ensure your children know what to do if approached by a stranger, such as yelling for help, running to a safe place and informing a trusted adult immediately.

Evacuation Drill

This afternoon, our school conducted our termly emergency management drill.

We practiced how we can quickly, calmly and sensibly leave our classrooms should there be an emergency and assemble in the park at the back of the school.

We are proud to report that all classes were out of the school buildings within 3 minutes and all students, staff, visitors and contractors were signed off and accounted for within 7 minutes.

Next term we will practice a lockdown drill to ensure we are ready to stay safe in a range of different situations.

SKiPPS Ski Team News

Thanks to our wonderful parent, Hayley Morris who has organised and supported the SKiPPS Ski Team this year! She has kindly provided some great photos and ski report below.

We have just finished the Victorian ski interschools and it was a great event, despite terrible snow and some wet weather. We had 6 competitors from SKiPPs.

Poppy Henry, Grade 5
Felix Lewis, Grade 3
William Kloe, Grade 3
Joseph Rudd, Grade 3
Francesca Kloe, Grade 1
Marigold Rudd, Grade 1

We saw some great performances from the team, a special shout out to Will who came 9th in the Ski Cross event. An awesome effort with a field of 178! He will go through to Nationals which are held in early September in Perisher.

Everyone else put in an awesome effort across the very hectic two days!

Donation of trackpants/shorts

With students slipping over in wet grass and puddles this winter, the school is in need of replacement clothes, so the students can get changed and get on with their day.

If your child has outgrown their trackpants or shorts and they are in great condition, please consider donating them to the school, so there is always a spare change of clothes available.

Donations can be dropped off to the Sick Bay anytime.

SKiPPS Orchestra news

Due to the ongoing maintenance works at school, the orchestra cannot currently rehearse in the Performing Arts Room. So we are planning to make music in a different manner for the rest of this term. Michael (our conductor) will offer a singing and song writing workshop each Wednesday from 8am-8.45am.

The song writing aspect will include the option for children to enter the National Songwriting Competition run annually by the Australian Children's Music Foundation. https://acmf.com.au/national-songwriting-competition/

I know this is very different to the Orchestra program but, in terms of musical development, it is valuable and hopefully lots of fun.

We will run each Wednesday in the BER, the library area in the BER building, which Neil and teachers have kindly made available to us. Parent helpers are always welcome.

Contact Michael for more information: Michael_roper@fastmail.fm or 0433911773

Maths Games Day - Year 5