School News

Good luck Minnie: 5H

Minnie is in Darwin this week, after being selected to represent Victoria in the SSV Cricket National Championships. Minnie qualified for the team through trials which form part of School Sport Victoria’s emerging talent program, this has a focus on each student’s athleticism, skill level and school behaviour.

Minnie has emailed through a summary of her experience so far this week....

"We arrived in Darwin for the U12 national cricket championships on Sunday. All the boys and girls state teams from around Australia came together at Marrara stadium for the opening ceremony of the championships where the Victorian players were presented with our baggy blue.

We played our first game on Sunday against NSW, it was very hot day, and the Vic girls were a bit nervous. NSW are a strong team and played very good cricket and won by 30 runs. On day 2 we faced ACT, it was another hot day, 35 degrees. We won the toss and chose to bat first, we won that game by 83 runs. Day 3 we played Qld and this was an important match for us as we needed to win this game to make finals. We batted first, made 235 runs and felt confident. It was a very close game, as Qld came back fighting. The supporters from both sides were screaming and cheering so loud, it was an amazing atmosphere. Qld needed 3 runs off the last over to win, but Vic was able to take a wicket and we won the game. It was so exciting, and our team went out to dinner afterwards to celebrate.

The next day, we had a rest day, and the Vic girls and boys team went on an educational excursion to the Darwin military museum. Afterwards, we went to the outdoor wave pool at the waterfront which was so much fun and a good way to cool down.

Next up we play South Australia for a spot in the grand final on Friday."

Is Your Child Well Enough To Attend School?

As we all know that attending school is vitally important to all students, it is also vitally important to know when your child is to not attend school due to illness. This can be very difficult at times for parents to judge.

We thought we would take time to remind parents of a few reasons why students should not attend the school environment while they are unwell.

As we are aiming to build resilience with all our students, we want them to learn to put up with minor health issues. We as a school have the responsibility to care for all students by preventing outbreaks of any contagious illness. In doing this we need students to stay at home when the following has occurred;

If your child has vomited or had diarrhoea at home, please do not send your child to school until 48 hours after the last vomiting and/or diarrhoea. Many students are sent home again after coming to school due to vomiting in the classroom after they arrive. This spreads the germs and greatly disrupts the classroom and learning of other students.
If you need to administer ibuprofen or paracetamol to your child in the morning before school – then your child is unwell for school. These pharmaceutical drugs wear off around lunch time and the student starts to feel unwell again. These drugs camouflage underlining illnesses and the germs can still spread.
If your child has a persistent, hard cough this can disrupt other students in the classroom from learning with the sound of coughing and the teacher not being heard by other students. If your child is coughing persistently this will also tire your child and they will not be at their peak to learn due to be exhausted from coughing. Coughing spreads droplets of germs throughout the classroom and can be spread throughout the students and staff quickly. Obviously, coughs can linger after having a cold and it is reasonable for a student to come back to school with the occasional cough.
Click on the link below from the Department of Health guidelines for a full fact sheet on gastroenteritis.. https://www.health.vic.gov.au/infectious-diseases/viral-gastroenteritis-not-rotavirus

To help reduce the spread of illness, please take the time to discuss personal hygiene with your child. Please remind children to cover their mouth and nose when they cough or sneeze, dispose of any tissues in the bin and wash their hands properly and regularly.

If your child has been prescribed antibiotics that are to be administered three times per day, these can be administered at home. The first dose can be administered between 7am – 8.30am, the following dose can be administered between 3.45pm – 4.30pm. Then the last dose can be given at 8pm or before bed.

Please be aware the school is not allowed to provide paracetamol, ibuprofen or other analgesics to students.

If your child becomes unwell at school, you will be contacted and required to arrange for your child to be picked up within a reasonable timeframe. While a child may feel better at home – if they come back to school too early, they will fall into a heap quickly due to going back into a classroom full of student and it being noisy with bright lights, extra activity outside at recess and lunch times and moving around the school for different subjects.

Thank you for supporting these procedures and helping to contain illnesses within our school community.

Crazy Sock day at PPS

To support World Environment Day on Monday 5th June, our SRC (Student Representative Council) organised a Crazy Sock Day. Raising money through gold coin donations for Bush Heritage Australia, students were asked to wear a pair of crazy socks with their school uniform.

Thank you to all our families who sent in a gold coin donation, SRC are very proud to be able to donate $712.90 to Bush Heritage Australia.

Second Hand Uniform Sale

Next Friday (16th June) between 2.45pm and 3.45pm, the PPA will run our Term 2 Second Hand Uniform Sale in the Gym Foyer. Stock up on a great range of uniform clothing, save on landfill and support the school. Both EFTPOS and cash accepted. Items are priced from $2 to $15 with most at $5.