The Canteen is open Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays

District Cross Country Results

On Tuesday the 8th of May 60 Old Orchard students from Years 3-6 competed in the District Cross Country at Ruffey Lake Park. The students had to run 2-3 km across the hilly cross country track and compete against 7 other schools, adding up to 80 competitors in each race. All of the Old Orchard students did a fantastic job pushing themselves to represent their school with pride. In particular congratulations to Marc (3rd) , James (8th) and Curtis (10th) who finished in the top 10 in their race which means they progress to the next round in the Whitehorse Division. Well done everyone!

2018 WRITEFORFUN Competition

As part of Writing Enrichment sessions in Term 1, Year 5 students composed, edited and published their own poetry after a guided reflective process and analysis of a range of poetry samples. At the end of the term, each student's poem was entered into the 2018 WRITE4FUN writing competition. I am very pleased to announce that Old Orchard Primary School has received a Certificate of Excellence for Outstanding Student Achievement. Our school has had 10 or more students successfully progress past the initial judging stage of the competition; an achievement that puts us in the top 10% out of 10,000 entries. The overall winners will be announced on May 23rd, but we are very proud of all our entrants for having already done so well.

Congratulations to the following poets:

5KP: Michael Jones, Lucas Sencek, Azumi Sakamoto

5MF: Lucy Idnurm, Lila Potgieter-Strachan, Ella Seeley, Jessica Summerville, Pragya Vashist, Olivia Wong

5LT: Lachlan Bell, Finn Duncan, Eve Graham, Abbey McDonald, Paige Redshaw

There is a display featuring all the poems at the front of the school near the office. Make sure you have a read and encourage your children to do so; they are excellent!

Lucy McMillan

Great Victorian Bike Ride – Expression of Interest

We had a very positive response to this year’s Great Vic Bike Ride at our meeting last night.

Expressions of interest for the ride are required by May 30th.

Please contact Kevin at purvis.kevin.k@edumail.vic.gov.au or Wendy Scott at scott.wendy.a@edumail.vic.gov.au if you were unable to attend this meeting and would like to obtain more information and receive the expression of interest form that needs to be completed.

Thanks to Ranald Young (school parent) for these words:

Overview of usual OOPS – GVBR schedule:

On Thursday morning we meet at OOPS, load the truck with bikes and then load ourselves and our gear in a coach to travel to the start point.

This year is Rutherglen in North East Victoria. We expect the coach trip to be about 3 ½ hrs with several comfort stops as required.

Thursday: is officially a “rest day” for the other GVBR riders, of which there are around 3000- 4000 riders completing in the 9 day ride event. When we arrive, there is plenty of time to 'set up our tents in allocated school camping zones', become familiar with the GVBR camp style of setup, and enjoy the local environs for the rest of the day. Thursday night is our first 'taste' of the GVBR catering.

Friday: is our first official riding day. Friday the route is Rutherglen to Yarrawonga (55 km). Essentially running west below the Murray River. The routes are very well selected by Bicycle Network to minimise traffic and they will sometimes close a section of the route to cars when required to ensure cyclist safety. Morning tea break point – option to regroup- coffee ($), water, toilets etc. Lunch is catered, then load your jersey pockets for the afternoon ride. Afternoon tea - same as morning tea.

Saturday: second day after a good night’s rest, we leave Yarrawonga and head to Glenrowan (87km). This route takes us due south for the majority, then east into Glenrowan. Assuming we do not come across any bushrangers this should be a great 'full day' of riding.

Sunday: third and final day. Glenrowan to Benalla (49kms) This route starts north and heads in a gentle anti clockwise arch. Historically we will all regroup several kilometres before the finish. Then as an OOPS group we ride into the final arena and under the finish arch together. Finishing the ride to the cheers of friends and family With a few group photos and excited chatting, you will collect your belongings for the last time, load up into the waiting pre-organised transport of family and head home, tired and elated.

Walk Safely to School Day Friday 18th May 2018

Now in its 19th year, National Walk Safely to School Day (WSTSD) is an annual event when all Primary School children will be encouraged to walk and commute safely to school. It is a Community Event seeking to promote Road Safety, Health, Public Transport and the Environment.

All information can found at: walk.com.au

The event will be held throughout Australia on Friday 18 May 2018

The objectives of WSTSD are:

To encourage parents and carers to walk to school with primary school age children and reinforce safe pedestrian behaviour.
To promote the health benefits of walking and help create regular walking habits at an early age.
To ensure that children up to 10 years old hold an adult's hand when crossing the road.
To help children develop the vital road-crossing skills they will need as they become mature pedestrians.
To reduce the car dependency habits that are being created at an early age and which will be difficult to change as children become adults.
To promote the use of Public Transport.
To reduce the level of air pollution created by motor vehicles.
To reduce the level of traffic congestion.

OOPS Netball Club

Registration for the Spring Season (Terms 3 & 4) is now open.

Open to all students from Grade 3 and up. New players welcome.

Please refer to oopsnetballclub.com for further information and details on how to register.

Registration closes 21st May.

Please contact our Registration Coordinator Cathy Reid for any questions at cathyreid211@gmail.com

From the Library

Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge

The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and Old Orchard Primary School is excited to be participating.

The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 7 September 2018.

Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books.

All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and can choose to have their name included on the online Honour Roll. If you would like your child‘s name to appear on the Honour Roll, please give (or deny) permission via your parent portal. If you do not give permission for your child’s name to be included on the online Honour Roll we will presume you do not give your permission and mark your child/ren accordingly.

To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklists and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit: www.education.vic.gov.au/prc

Lunchtime Clubs Term 1 & 2

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