MOORESVILLE

Dear Families,

We are well into the swing of Term One – half way there.  Time flies. Our students and families and staff, once again, showed resilience and grit whilst supporting each other during the latest lockdown. Thank you to all visitors to our school who continue to wear masks indoors and physical distance. Our students really, really want to be at school this year. Isn’t that great! 

I was at a seminar on Wednesday regarding new teachers. The Victorian Institute of Teaching [VIT] have a LOT of standards that teachers need to show evidence about annually. One of the videos we watched was about adaptive expertise. The bottom line was “moral imperative” – we must always have our students’ engagement, participation and achievement at our heart. Optimising this environment is key to what we do in schools [Helen Timperley]

Teaching and Learning: Supporting Students at RHPS.

Tutoring Learning Initiative: We have welcomed three part time staff this term. Welcome to Renée Schilte, Reuben Langerak and Sarah Tattersall. These three staff members are working in classes as part of the Tutor learning Initiative.  The Tutor Learning Initiative is designed to support students whose learning has been disrupted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rolling Hills teachers have identified students and are targeting areas of need through intensive conferencing with individual students. 

Learning Support: it has been fantastic to see 18 students now attending our Maths Club before school. From next week, these students will meet in the library and do confidence building maths activities. Levelled Literacy Intervention [LLI] program has many students receiving support in reading. Thanks to Helen Plunkett who manages this program. 

ILPs – These stand for Individual Learning Plans. These are for students who are at risk of falling behind and the teachers set goals and have targeted strategies for the classroom and for you to support your child at home. Please have a careful look and speak to your teacher if you have any concerns. 2021 ILPs will be sent home before the end of Term One. 

Reading at home: It is so important to read at home as much as you can. Reading FOR your child – especially books that are challenging for them. This not only models that you are a reader, your child can see and hear the words and follow along. Reading WITH your child – read every second page or read along together. Reading BY your child – make time and listen to their take home books. Remember, it is the person who is the READER. Books, cartoons, magazines, screens, different texts is what the reader reads. The Smith family say that The number of books at home is strongly linked to a child’s academic achievement. International studies have found that students with many books at home achieve, on average, at higher levels in reading, mathematics and science than students from homes with fewer literacy resources. If you struggle with home reading, do come and see us. 

Tribes:

We have started our Tribes program this year and for first term, we are working on our school song and what it means to us. We are also learning about the people our houses are named after – many of our students are unaware who Ian THORPE, Donald BRADMAN, Patrick RAFTER, and Cathy FREEMAN are. Mrs Terry Spottiswood, previous principal, introduced house teams to our school and the students and staff of the time chose the names. Do you know who these sports people are and ways in which they showed our Tribes Agreements? We still meet every second Friday afternoon [alternating with Assemblies] in Tribes from P-6. 

Policy summary 

At school council each year, the Education Sub-Committee works through the different policies. We create new ones in line with social needs and review policies already in place. These are always in line with Department guidelines and frameworks with added Rolling Hills culture. We will be publishing our Policy Summary on our Web page soon. Keep looking at Compass for your invitation for feedback as we write or review our policies. 

Our School Song

We’re here to tell you a story,

About a school we’ve come to know,

We have been here only a short time,

But the school has helped us grow,

We’re only here for seven years,

This time will fly away,

Each day is part of a memory,

So cherish every day.

In the hills surrounding Mooroolbark,

This school we’ve grown to love,

It’s the school which means most to us,

For no other ranks above,

We share the good and bad times,

And we hold our heads up high,

With pride we work together,

And to do our best we try.

CHORUS

At Rolling Hills we’re friendly,

And we’re courteous each day,

At Rolling Hills united we grow tall.

At Rolling Hills where lifelong friendships,

Really can be made,

At Rolling Hills the BEST SCHOOL OF THEM ALL.

We are working for our future,

For our future’s in our hands,

For a peace which lasts forever,

For a better world we stand,

But we know that it starts right here,

Our neighbourhood our school,

We understand that caring for this world should be our rule.

CHORUS x 2

At Rolling Hills the BEST SCHOOL OF THEM ALL YEAH!