Mobile phone ban

Mobile phones will be banned for all students at Victorian State Primary and Secondary Schools from Term 1 2020, to help reduce distraction, tackle cyber bullying and improve learning outcomes for students. Below is the ministerial advice in teh form of a media announcement that must be followed by all Victorian Government Schools.

IF YOU MUST SEND A PHONE TO SCHOOL PLEASE ENSURE YOUR CHILD'S PHONE IS LABELLED AND HANDED IN TO THE OFFICE ON ARRIVAL EACH DAY.

Dear Parents & Community

Welcome to the 2020 school year. I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday. I very much look forward to working with you this year.

The first newsletter of a school year often has information that will aid families in settling in to the term. Please read the entire "Inside Ivanhoe".

Student work and commentary can often be found within these pages and creates a great opportunity for positive family conversations. Our goal is to work together to provide every child with the brightest possible future.

The beginning of a school year is exciting for everyone but there can be stress involved in learning new routines, understanding expectations, building new friendships and finding the optimum path to success so I ask you to be overtly positive, supportive and reassuring as your child(ren) begins the year.

Please say hello to your child’s teacher and feel comfortable in the knowledge that we are here in partnership with you to give your child the best opportunities to succeed at school.

FOUNDATION STUDENTS

Our new students began their day with very few tears (mostly moist eyes from new parents). Our newest students looked to be having a marvellous, if not tiring, first day. It was nice to meet so many parents in the school yard and in the staffroom at the "tears & sympathy" welcome morning tea. Thank you PFA and Year 1 parents for supplying the tea and food and staying around to chat to our new parents.

There were plenty of first day photos being taken of children in their nice clean uniforms. I clearly remember recording this special moment and the joy on my own child's face as she looked back on these times very fondly as an adult. Here is Julia and I about to head to school day one 20 years ago.

Seems like yesterday. Enjoy this milestone.

For some children transitioning to school is very easy and for others a little stressful. Please take the oportunity to speak to your child's teacher if you need reassurance. Remember our aim is to work in partnership with you to give every child the best possible start to school.

We focus on positive behaviours and good citizenship. Please help us by talking to your child often about our school values and the importance of being fair to and accepting of all people. Everyone has the right to feel safe at school.

Our School Values are Confidence, Independence, Persistence, Resilience and Respect.

It is incumbant on all of us to bring these values to life and present them in ways that makes sense to children. Here are some examples.

Persistence - Not giving up when things become challenging.

Persistence is not giving up, having more than one go at something, trying again when you get something wrong or just practicing to do your best.

Resilience - Being able to recover quickly from setbacks.

Resilient people often feel good about themselves. There is a difference between people who bounce back easily and those who get frustrated. If you can learn to bounce back you’ll do better at everything in life.

Confidence - Believing in yourself and what you can achieve.

Self-confidence is the belief in yourself and in your abilities. That you can do it. When you experience success, you feel good inside and you want to do better.

Independence – Being able to achieve things on your own.

Our aim is to ensure that every student is able to develop into an adult capable of looking after themselves, to thrive on the challenges that life throws at us, to experiment sensibly with risks and develop your own ways of doing things successfully.

Respect - Showing consideration for others.

Respect Is thinking and acting in a way that shows others you care about their feelings and their well-being.

Restassured that behaviours that disrupt learning and teaching will not be tolerated.

Welcome Picnic

There is always something interesting going on at IPS. Whether you are new to the school or you have been here a while everybody loves a picnic.

To welcome our school community back for another year, we invite you to join us for the annual IPS Welcome Picnic. This year, the PFA have arranged for a number of food trucks to be at the IPS Welcome Picnic, making it even easier to join in! Feel free to bring along some snacks and a picnic rug and then treat yourself to some delicious noodle dishes, pizza, burgers or icy poles!!

The Picnic is a great opportunity to meet new families to the school, chat to some of the staff and reconnect with friends and classmates from previous years.

The IPS Welcome Picnic, organised by the PFA, is on Friday the 7th of February - 5pm - 8pm and we look forward to seeing you there.

**Food available for purchase at the event from 5.30!**

PFA

The first PFA meeting of the year is on Tuesday 11th February at 7pm in the staffroom. All members of the school community are welcome.

Current items for the agenda are:

Foundation morning tea feedback:

Welcome Picnic feedback :

Term 2 events:

PFA budget:

Monday Assemblies

Student Leaders – Please Note

At the beginning of the Assembly on Monday 10th Febuary the House Captains and Vice Captains will receive their leadership badges. Other holders of leadership positions will receive their badges as soon as those positions have been filled.

Star of the Week

Star of the Week awards will begin Monday 10th of February for Year 1 to Year 6. Foundation Star of the Week will begin later in February, once they have settled in to their school routine and understand the concepts behind the acknowledgement.

Assemblies and Foundation Students

The first few assemblies do not include Foundation as they settle in to their new routines. Some of our Foundation students may find settling in to the larger environment difficult initially but they will be assigned older buddies to help them make friends. A few may find it difficult separating from their parent(s) in the morning, but I assure you after mums and dads have left they do settle down.

Please extricate yourself as soon as you can after they go into class and the anxiety will soon pass.

Welcome New Teaching Staff

We have a terrific team of committed teachers, education support and administration staff. This year we welcome Trent Ryan, Elizabeth Kennedy and Sandra Kannemeyer to the teaching team. Mr Ryan will be teaching Year 1, Ms Kennedy will be teaching Year 4 and Ms Kannemeyer will be teaching EAL and Support. Please make them feel welcome.

Holiday Works

Over the Christmas holidays minor works were completed at the school.

We have replaced the path at the front of the school as tree roots were breaking through the bitumen and patched some holes in the rubber surfaces around the play areas.Once again thank you to Cam Harper for keeping our oval looking fantastic. This is no easy task given the weather we have been experiencing.

Thank you to parents and staff who watered the gardens over the holidays

Notice of School Council Election - Nominations are now open

**Please read the "Considering Joining School Council?" page for more information.

School council members are elected for approximately a two year term. Half the membership is elected or co-opted every year. This creates vacancies for school councillor positions every year. If a councillor fails to complete their term a vacancy is advertised and filled for the remainder of the original term of office.

Nominations are now called for membership of the School Council of Ivanhoe Primary School. There are two types of parent member category nomination forms – Schedule 5A ‘Self Nomination’ form or Schedule 5B Nomination form. Schedule B is used when a school parent nominates another school parent.

Nomination forms may be downloaded from the "Considering Joining School Council" page of this newsletter, or by contacting, the school office. These must be physically lodged with the principal / school office by 4.00 pm on 10/02/2020. Nomination forms are available from the 28/01/2020 (or in an earlier COMPASS alert).

Following the closing of nominations a list of the nominees received will be posted on the noticeboards at the school and communicated by COMPASS and will be in the Newsletter on the 13/02/2020.

If there are more nominations than there are vacant positions, an election will be held and a vote will be conducted.

If an election, is called nominees will be encouraged to submit a short bio about themselves (no more than 300 words) which will be published on the 13/02/2020. So if you are nominating or are nominated please give concideration to this prior to the 13th Feb.

Voting slips will then be made available to all eligible voters on 17/02/2020.

The ballot will close at 4.00 pm on 24/02/2020. The community will be informed of the successful candidates on the 27/02/20 and the first meeting of Ivanhoe Primary School Council will be at 7pm Wednesday 4th April 2020. * (7.00 pm correspondence is tabled / Meeting starts 7.30)

The terms of office, membership categories and number of positions in each membership category open for election are as follows:

Generally speaking there are two School Council meetings per term (Three in Term 2). Every council member is asked to serve on one of the many sub committees of School Council. Every School Council Member is required to attend school governance training organised by the principal.

If the number of nominations is less than the number of vacancies, a notice to that effect and calling for further nominations will be posted in a prominent position at the school.

Information for parents is provided together with the translation in to a variety of languages at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/spag/governance/Pages/electionmaterials.aspx

Information nights and other communication opportunities

Parents and families play an important role in supporting their child's education, by providing learning opportunities at home and linking what the child learns at school with what happens elsewhere. Research has shown that when schools and families work together, outcomes for students improve.

We believe that communication is the key to developing relationships between school and home that support your child in their learning. Information evenings have been scheduled to provide you with an opportunity to listen to your child’s teacher speak about the curriculum and the school’s expectations. There will be the opportunity to ask questions and to hear how you can help your child do their best at school. A timetable of these evenings and times is published below.

*Foundation Information evening was held in December of 2019.

There are two other formally scheduled opportunities for you to meet with your teacher this year, as well as the information evening.

These are:

1/ Meet the teacher which will occur on Wednesday 26th February, giving you the opportunity to share information about your child.

2/ In Term 3, we will meet to discuss your child’s progress after you have received their mid-year report at the end of Term 2.

While these are scheduled opportunities, teachers are also available to meet with you throughout the school year to discuss your child’s progress. Shortly you will receive a welcome letter from your child’s teacher with a bit more information that is just for your class and will let you know how you can get involved.

Our focus is your child, so help us by understanding that our work is complex. We want to build positive relationships with every family and every student. Teaching staff are expected to attend meetings before and after school although your child’s teacher will generally be in their classroom at 8.50am. Please remember at the start of the day teachers are getting learning ready, so will not always have much time for more than a hello and pleasantries. For a more comprehensive conversation please make an appointment through the school office or approach your child’s teacher directly after school to make a time.

We are endeavouring to streamline our communication processes.

In 2020, the school will be using two apps to communicate with you:

COMPASS

COMPASS is the school’s primary portal for parents and carers. The weekly school newsletter and other school notices will be available on COMPASS. You will use COMPASS to pay and provide consent for special school and class activities, and to access your child’s mid-year and end-of-year reports.

ClassDojo

ClassDojo will keep you informed with what is happening in the grade. Your child’s teacher will post notes and photos to let you know what they are learning throughout the year, which will provide you with some ideas for what you could do at home. This will only be accessible to families of each grade.

Website

The school website will continue to provide broad based information and updates relevant to the school community and remains a work in progress.

Newsletter "Inside Ivanhoe"

The school newsletter will continue to be published weekly online and be served up as a link on COMPASS and can be downloaded from the website.

Celebrations and sharing food

For reasons relating to food allergies and safety, as well as the significant financial impost brought to bear, families are respectfully requested that under NO circumstances are you to supply birthday cakes, cupcakes, sweets, gifts and toys etc on school grounds – including at the OSHC program. I apologize in advance if this seems harsh, but the wellbeing of every student must be our primary concern. Consider celebrating birthdays and other events at a local park or in your own home. Be mindful that many of our students are anaphylactic and food allergens pose a very real threat.

We are a registered SunSmart school and children must wear wide brimmed hats in Term One and Term Four. Children without hats will be directed to the shade cloth areas at the top of the school near the Waterdale Rd building. Hats are required for Physical Education classes and Sport.

(Click the sunsmart link)

Students should not be left unsupervised at school. Teachers are on duty from 8.45am to 9am as well as from 3.30pm – 3.45pm. Your child’s safety cannot be guaranteed outside of these times, so if time is an issue for you please make arrangements with another family to drop off and or pick up. School staff are not traffic wardens and cannot direct traffic. Please use common sense and focus on safety when dropping off or collecting children.

We intend to embark on a number of new initiatives in 2020 and we will continue to explore new ways of giving our students more voice, agency and leadership across our programs.

Welcome to Ivanhoe primary School.

Year 6 Team Building

Year 6 Team Building

Team building