From the Principal 

International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) - School Assessments and Academic Competitions

Over the last few weeks our Year 3-6 students have been involved in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS).  ICAS is a historic academic competition that has been sat by over 10 million school students from 16,000 schools 

across 41 countries since 1981. It recognises academic performance in a way similar to sports or the arts, with engaging, fun questions designed to test students’ higher-order thinking skills.  

Our students were invited to participate in the Writing, English, Science and Mathematics tests. Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student who participated will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. Well done to all those who participated and to Wendy Yoong for organising ICAS and to the staff who helped administer the assessments on the day.

Prime Minister Spelling Bee

This year we have invited students in Year 3-6 to participate in the Prime Minister’s 

Spelling Bee Competition. We had approximately 60 students enrol in the competition which began this week. This free online competition sees students answer 30 spelling words across three different levels, Years 3-4, Years 5-6 and Years 7-8. We hope our students had a great time and look forward to celebrating their success with them.

Book Week - Reading is Magic!

We had an amazing time celebrating Book Week last week.  Our students read and undertook activities around the short-listed books throughout the week.  This culminated in our Book Week Dress Up Day last Friday. Unfortunately Mr Heys and I were attending the Victorian Principal’s Association Conference, so we were not there to witness the amazing outfits, however, we have seen and heard about the wonderful costumes the students and staff were dressed in.  Our families, students and staff did a wonderful job in dressing up as their favourite book character.  

Father's Day/Special Person's night

We are looking forward to our Father’s Day / Special Person’s night this Thursday night commencing at 5pm in the hall. We look forward to a fun night of activities and pizzas!

Exciting learning opportunities for our Year 5 & 6 students - Year 5 & 6 'Mock Parliament' afternoon

On Monday, 2nd September the Year 5 & 6 students will have a special ‘Mock Parliament’ session at school coordinated by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick and Dr Carina Garland (Member for Chisholm).

The proposal is to run a ‘mock parliament’ with the Year 5 & 6 students and will include: 

1. PowerPoint presentation with the Speaker and Carina – where they talk about their role, what a typical day looks like in Parliament vs the community. 
2. Dress up – Milton and Carina bring a dispatch box, mace and costumes for the students. They dress up as Serjeant-at-arms and Speaker.
3. Question Time – Students can ask whatever they would like to know.
4. Vote – all students then vote on a “bill”.

This promises to be a great afternoon for the Year 5 & 6 students and staff.

Police Visit on Cyberbullying

Last week the Level 5 and 6 students were visited by a member of the police force. The purpose of this visit was to talk to our students about cyberbullying and online safety.

This was a great session, and the students enjoyed learning about the importance of being safe online. They had lots of questions which they were prepared to ask the presenter which showed how engaged they were.

Matthew Coney & Ben Heys