Welcome back! We can’t believe it‘s Term 4 already! We hope everyone had a lovely holiday break. The weather was kind, and we’ve heard that many people were out and about enjoying the outdoors. We are ready to go for the 12-week term and have lots of exciting and engaging events and activities organised for the last term of 2023.

Space Week

We are kicking off special events with the Space Dome incursion for all students today and Friday. We are covering the cost of the incursion for everyone to celebrate and learn more about Earth Science during Space Week. Many parents have booked to come and participate in the Space Dome experience after school, which is fantastic; I’m sure it will be fascinating. A huge thanks to Miss Louwdyk for organising this interesting and exciting incursion for our school community.

Write to Read

This term we are very excited to be trialling a new approach to the teaching of spelling in our F-2 space. Merran Maguire and Nic Rheumer attended 15 hours of training last term to learn about the Write to Read program and the implementation of a comprehensive phonics program.

About the Program

Research shows that, for a child to be successful in spelling, they must understand:

the English language is a ‘coded’ language;
words are made up of sounds which are represented by written symbols (codes);
there are seventy basic written codes in the English language;
there are rules which help to read or write words correctly.

For the student to be able to read words accurately they must:

be able to read and write the seventy codes;
recognise them in words and blend the sounds they represent;
apply rules when necessary.

Then, context clues, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension strategies give the student access to the meaning of the sentence these words create. All of these components must be modelled and explicitly taught by the teacher, then practised until the student can apply the skills independently.

This term, our F-2 students (and teachers) will be involved in a Spelling BOOT CAMP from 9.00–9.15am every morning in the 1/2 learning area. The first 4 weeks will be focused on the teaching of the 70 phonograms that make up the English language before moving on to learning the spelling rules that help us to spell over 93% of the words in the English language.

If you are interested in learning more about this program, please contact Nic Rheumer.

Term 4 SSG Meetings - Monday 16th October (Face-to-Face or via Webex)

The day selected for SSG meetings this term is Monday 16th October. SSGs will run for 20 minutes and will be held face-to-face in Sue’s office or via Webex, whichever is more suitable. Monday was chosen so specialist programs would not be interrupted.

Mandatory Hats And Sunscreen

All students are required to wear hats in the playground during Term 4. Hats are available from the office or our uniform supplier, PSW, in Glen Waverley.

Sunscreen can be applied at home in the morning and re-applied, if necessary, during recess and lunch eating times. Students can bring their own sunscreen to apply. The school uniform has a sunscreen rating, and the broad-brimmed hat offers extra protection from the sun as well. Please see our SunSmart Policy on our school website for further information.

Drop-off And Pick-up Times

We would like to remind our school community to be aware of potential accidents that could be caused at drop-off and pick-up times. Some students are not using the crossing to cross the road and there have been a number of near misses of students by cars.

Please remind your children to cross at our crossing, to be aware of cars reversing and pulling out into traffic, and to not walk through the school carpark at these times.

School Instagram Page

We have set up a school-managed Instagram page for people who use this media platform. This is a great way to celebrate some of the special things happening in our school. Please give us a follow!

Colour Run

Get your Colour on! Scoresby Primary School is hosting a Colour Explosion Fun Run!

The Colour Explosion Fun Run will be on Friday 1st December from 1.30pm until 3.00pm

Not only are we hosting an awesome Colour Explosion Fun Run, but students can order up to a total of 5 prizes based on their donations received. They can even mix and match!

Students will receive a sponsorship book next week with instructions on setting up their cybersafe, online fundraising profile at www.australianfundraising.com.au This is an entirely online fundraiser; all cash donations must be converted to online donations to redeem your prizes.

Extra Incentives to Fundraise!

Online Golden Coins – complete fun online tasks to redeem an extra $75 towards your prize credit.
Monty the Monstar’s Bonus Prizes – achieve milestones to unlock Monty’s bonus prizes.
$10,000 JB Hi-Fi Spending Spree for one organisation’s highest fundraising student – it could be you!
Our school will win an extra $5,000 if we have the highest average fundraised amount per student in 2023.
A PlayStation 5 Gaming Bundle – see your child’s sponsorship booklet for more!

For more information, please contact Nic Rheumer at nicole.rheumer@education.vic.gov.au

Happy fundraising!

SUE HARTLEY AND NICOLE RHEUMER

Scoresby Primary School Leaders

Happy Birthday To You!

Best wishes to these students who are celebrating their birthday: