Nihao from China!

I am feeling a little MIA (Missing in Action) at the moment. Given we have just completed 5 weeks of Term 4 and with only 6 weeks left to go and with so much to do, I have been absent more than present and am playing quite a bit of catch up. I do miss not being at school and working with our teachers and students. Sometimes it is inevitable and unavoidable. I do thank the leadership team, in particular Michael Gerber as Acting Principal, during my absence for their wonderful support in keeping the school safe and committed to all students' working to the best of their ability.

Having said that I have been attending some very amazing events in support of our state education system. A number of commitments such as my role as a facilitator at Bastow for the Open to Learning Leadership program, my attendance at the final professional learning for our three learning specialists Lisa Sarpa, Janis Mesiti and Alex Wren as they complete their Bastow training for 2019, my attendance at the Area Principal Forum on Friday just past and my working weekend away with the leadership team at TSPS over the long weekend have taken me away from our school setting. Each of these events though contributes to the bigger picture of the work we do in advocating state school education as a system. The biggest event has been the completion recently of our inaugural Family China Tour which was undertaken Oct 21- Nov 1. Families from both Dohertys Creek and Truganina South spent 12 wonderful days together exploring a number of cities in China,

enhancing the Mandarin programs offered at both our school for those students able to participate.

Some personal highlights for me include the following:

In Beijing- Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall of China, Pandas, thunderstorms and pelting rain as we were driven around on cycle pedalled carriages

In Xi’an- Terracotta Warriors (8000 of them), meeting one of the discoverers of the warriors, a 13 km bike ride along Xi'an's Fortification Wall

In Nanjing- sister school visit to Nanjing Gulou Experimental Primary School. Here our students were treated to a number of wonderful cultural performances including a play, Kung Fu and dance demonstrations. They then addressed the assembly speaking in Mandarin. The stand out moment– when our students were joined by the whole school assembly in one voice as they sang a Mandarin song together, to resounding clapping and smiles! Also to a visit Confucius' Temple

In Tong-Li the Watertown, riding the canals, shopping at the markets.

In Shanghai- seeing East meets West in the largest populated city in the world (24 million). Shanghai Disneyland, Wu gardens, The Bund. Just wonderful.

As well two outstanding performances - The Golden Mask with the most incredible sets and water cascades and ERA a death defying acrobatic troupe who held our hearts in our mouths with their talents, agility and speed.

Spending time in another country allows one to explore, develop an appreciation for and learn about customs, traditions and histories. For the families that travelled with us, this is an opportunity that not long ago was not thought possible. China is certainly opening herself up to the world and everywhere there are sights to behold, foods to taste, sounds to hear, emotions to feel and scents to inhale. Yes, there are the airport queues and security checks, waiting for connecting flights, cancellations of flights, living out of a suitcase, checking your passport is always on you, early starts on the bus, checking into hotels really late at night and staying together as a group ‘sticky rice’ so as not to lose anyone and keep to a timely schedule. But this is soon forgotten. And when the wheels of the plane finally touch down on the Melbourne tarmac, it’s nice to be home. The photos will let the memories live on. The souvenirs and purchases will be constant reminders. The gifts from our sister schools will be a symbol of our connection and the prospect of opportunities for other families and colleagues to do this again in the not too distant future is a reality. Yuanbin was the most gracious and wonderful companion to have on this journey and I am so grateful for her knowledge, spirit and passion for her home land. In our next newsletter I will have contributions and reports from parents and children who attended this trip with us. Students will also present at our next whole school assembly. To see the world first hand like this is a wonderful experience and we look forward to exploring other such opportunities in years to come as families learn more about our time away and what the children experienced and learnt.

Celebrating our School's Achievements

This year I have been so proud to celebrate achievements by teachers and students beyond our school gate. Earlier this year our work and focused efforts on SUSTAINABILITY were recognised through Resource Smart Schools for our Green Team, 5th star and Science Teacher of the Year awards. At the end of Term 3 as part of the WAKAKIRRI Festival, our school was awarded the first place in the environment theme performance category. Three hundred schools across Australia participated in the Wakakirri Festival and we were so blessed to be successful in only our second ever participation in this initiative. I congratulate all teachers and families who supported this event, and especially acknowledge Jenn Stirk, Jacinta Porter and Genn Collier for their leadership and facilitation of this event. Our students were amazing as they committed to rehearsals, performed brilliantly on the night and then shared their performance at a recent whole school assembly in front of all their peers and many families in attendance that day. A wonderful achievement!

End of Year EVENTS

As our school year rapidly approaches its conclusion there is quite a lot of activity out and about the place.

Transitions for our Prep 2020 student begin later this month, following on from a successful Parent Information session held at the end of October.

Transitions for our Year 6 students who will soon finish their time as primary school students and begin their journey into secondary education will be occurring as their new schools require. Our Year 6 students will be farewelled and congratulated as part of their Year 6 Graduation on December 18th. I thank the Year 6 teachers for their preparation of this event.

Year 5/6 camp will be taking place Nov 20-22 at Lake Dewar. I hope to have the opportunity to visit the students, as I did for the year 3/ 4 camp late last term.

Colour Run, Bike Education and Swimming Programs will be run soon. Given recent events with the theft of school equipment that supports both the Colour Run and Bike Ed from containers on our site, I am pleased that we are still able to support both events through the generosity and understanding of organisations such as the Colour Run group (replacement of materials and resources for the day) and Corrections Victoria (donation of 17 bikes of all sizes and colours for our students). Along with our belongings, the Trail of Light Festival containers were also broken into and $30,000 of valuables removed.I am disappointed and devastated that there are people in the wider community who believe it is "OK" to steal from our children. It is despicable and frustrating. The police are investigating.

End of Year Concerts: This year we will host two end of year concerts, each with two performance times on offer (a matinee and evening show). It is a wonderful way to celebrate an amazing year and it is important as an audience that we stay for the whole performance and not just for our own child's section. Details will follow shortly but the dates to set aside are as follows:

3-6- Mon 16 December : Matinee @ 1-2.30pm & Evening @5.30-7pm

P-2 Tues 17 December : Matinee @ 1-2.30pm & Evening @5.30-7pm

I am looking forward to seeing as many families as we can at the events to help us celebrate our beautiful children.

Until our next newsletter- thank you for your support of the work we do at TSPS to support all our students.

Yours in Education

Linda Danese.

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