From the Acting Principal
ANZAC DAY SERVICE
On Friday 23 April, our Global Citizenship Captains did an outstanding job of running a special ANZAC assembly where the history and meaning of the day was explained through pictures, stories and music. Invited guest, Mr David Howell, the Secretary of the East Malvern RSL engaged the students with stories of life for the soldiers during wartime. I am sure each student walked away with a new appreciation of why we commemorate April 25 as ANZAC Day. Our students were exceptionally respectful, to the point where Mr Howell commented that their attention span was better than adults he has seen at some services. We are very proud of our students.
PREP PARENT WELCOME EVENING
The traditional Prep Parent Welcome Evening was once again organised by the Year 1 Class representatives for the new Prep parents and what a smashing hit the evening turned out to be.
There was a brilliant turnout with over 70 parents in attendance, all enjoying the hospitality arranged and meeting other parents in the year level.
I would like to say a very special thank you to the parents who were instrumental in making the evening such a success: the Year 1 parent reps: Luda U, Fiona B, Mariola B, Anne J, Cathy M, Nike K, Clarissa K and Sara S.
MOTHER’S DAY STALL
(Wednesday 5 May)
With the inception of our new Social and Fundraising Committee, convenor Kimberley Payne, has put together a team of volunteers to set up and run the Mother's Day stall this year. The stall will be held on Wednesday 5 May, with each class taking turns to go to the hall to do their shopping.
It will be helpful for each student to bring a plastic or paper bag to keep their purchases together and protected in their bag, not to mention hiding their goodies from mum until the special day.
SCHOOL COUNCIL GOVERNANCE TRAINING
Last Monday, new School Council members attended School Governance training in order to gain further clarity around how school councils operate and the roles of councillors. As a result, we will be reviewing our Standing Orders and posting them, along with School Council news on our website. I would like to thank the School Council members for their active participation and involvement in the committees.
Councillors are as follows:
President: Sandra Maxfield
Secretary: Simon Torok
Treasurer: Luda Unitt
Committee Parent Members:
Elissa Blackman, Simon Torok, Sandra Maxfield, Bruce MacDonald, Demos Karkazis, Kimberley Payne, Vidushi Sharma, Srini Jambusayee, Jonathan Doncovio.
DET Members:
Fi Sewell, Joshua Lowe, Alicia Oliver-Cook, Laura Bainbridge.
Following each School Council meeting, there will be a report written by a councillor to inform the school community of directions, discussions and decisions.
EDUCATION WEEK (Mon 24 to Friday 28 May)
Education Week is a time to celebrate and display the achievements of our students and the school. The theme this year is ‘Building Connections’, which celebrates the connections between our school and our community, which in turn has strengthened the bonds with families and carers.
During Education Week we will be running a number of workshops and inviting parents and carers to attend, have fun and learn more about literacy and numeracy and how we assess students and monitor their progress. Our next newsletter will provide a rundown of the activities planned.
MENTAL HEALTH OF OUR STUDENTS
The below message was included in the last newsletter, but due to it’s importance I’ve included it again.
It’s estimated that 1 in 7 school-age children have a mental health problem, like anxiety, depression and behaviour problems, but only 1 in 4 gets the help they need.
Given these statistics, we know there are many students who would benefit from mental health support.
We have investigated the possibility of engaging a psychology service to regularly visit our school. We believe that engaging an external organisation who understands children (and schools) will provide families with some much needed support. To get the ball rolling, we need to have enough genuine interest to make it viable.
If you are interested in your child accessing such a service, please contact me so I can provide you with further information.
BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
Even though our school grounds are beautiful, there is always room for improvement. Last week, the School Council members on the Facilities Committee walked around the school grounds to identify potential maintenance and new development projects. From these notes, they will draft a short and long term plan aimed at school grounds improvement and gain parent input into prioritising projects.
UTILISING THE SKILL SETS OF OUR PARENTS
The school will be able to achieve many projects when we are able to save on labour costs by utilising the skills of our parent community. Naturally the school would pay for materials, but having a volunteer or three to help carry out projects is both rewarding to the parents and brilliant for the school.
For example, one of the suggested projects is to create an outdoor kitchen near the decking in the SAKG area with a pizza oven and BBQ facilities. What a fabulous space this would be. Are there any concreters in our parent community?
The school would pay for materials but if we had parents who could prepare the area and lay the concrete, the money saved stretches further.
The Facilities Committee will be sending a survey link to ask interested parents if they have a trade or profession they are willing to share with us. We hope you are able to help in some way.
WORKING BEE- Saturday 19 June (9:30am – 1:30pm)
Please save the date. A working bee is when parents (and their children) come to school and do general clean up and garden maintenance. A list of jobs is usually posted on the wall and when parents arrive they choose what they’d like to do. We didn’t have a working bee at all last year (for obvious reasons) so it’s definitely time to beautify our school. We hope to see you there.
NAPLAN
Next week, our year 3 and 5 students will be participating in the NAPLAN tests. These are nationwide assessments with parents receiving a report about their child’s literacy and numeracy achievements. The schedule is as follows:
Tuesday 11 May – writing (Year 3 students handwrite their pieces while year 5 students use laptops)
Wednesday 12 May – reading
Thursday 13 May – language conventions (spelling, punctuation and grammar)
Monday 17 May - Maths
It is important to remember that NAPLAN is only one form of assessment and while it demonstrates what the child was able to do on the day, it does not reflect all the student is capable of.
Students at our school are involved in continuous dialogue with teachers reflecting on and analysing their work together. Teachers and students use work samples and a range of classroom based assessments to identify the learning achieved and to set personalised learning goals to guide future learning directions. Learning is a continuous journey and it is vital students are active participants.
Chellee Plumb