The Talk Around ... TPS 

Melbourne Cup Eve - no buses

A notice was sent home earlier this month to gauge students’ attendance for Monday 4th November 2019 as the School understands that many families take the opportunity to have some family and holiday time before the rush of Christmas. 

42 children have indicated they will be attending.  In response, we have organised a special program for the school day and have 2 staff members to cover supervision of these children.  The children will be using the portables for the day.  Please inform your child to go straight to P1 (not their usual classroom).

Please note that no school buses will be running.  Also Reception will only be open from 9am to 3pm on that day.

Chromebooks 2020

Parents of current Grade 2 students and new students commencing in Year 3-5, 2020 are advised that to guarantee delivery of your Chromebook before Christmas orders need to be placed by October 30th. 

All other orders need to be placed  by the 4th December so that students have their devices delivered for Day 1, Term 1 2020.

The online ordering portal is accessible via http://trafalgarps.technology portal.com.au. The Access Code you will need to access the portal is “TPS2020”.

A number of letters regarding the program have already been distributed to families. Please contact the school if you need additional copies of this information or require additional assistance.

We are also pleased to announce that the school has recently purchased another 32 Chrome licences so that students from Foundation to Year 2 will have increased access to technology in their classrooms as required by the Digital Technologies Curriculum.

New Flagpoles Installed

Last week our school installed two additional flagpoles either side of our national flag. These new flagpoles now fly the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags as part of our school’s acknowledgment to the traditional owners of the land.  

Form and Symbolism

The Aboriginal flag is divided horizontally into halves. The top half is black and the lower half red. There is a yellow circle in the centre of the flag.

The meanings of the three colours in the flag, as stated by Harold Thomas, are:

• Black – represents the Aboriginal people of Australia.
• Yellow circle – represents the Sun, the giver of life and protector.
• Red – represents the red earth, the red ochre used in ceremonies and Aboriginal peoples’ spiritual relation to the land.

The Torres Strait Islander flag has three horizontal panels, with green at the top and bottom and blue in between. These panels are divided by thin black lines. A white Dhari (traditional headdress) sits in the centre, with a five-pointed white star beneath it.

The meanings of the colours in the flag are:

         Green – represents the land

         Black – represents the Indigenous peoples

         Blue - represents the sea

         White – represents peace

The Dhari represents Torres Strait Islander people and the five-pointed star represents the five island groups within the Torres Strait. The star is also a symbol for seafaring people as it is used in navigation.

Trafalgar Kindergarten

The new kindergarten is on its way to Trafalgar Primary School!  We are excited to announce that our school community will be growing as we welcome the addition of early childhood education next year.

The double-room kindergarten will operate onsite and be located to the east of the gym, close to School Rd.  Some additional parking will be provided onsite for centre staff.  Negotiations continue between School Council, Baw Baw Shire and the Victorian School Building Authority in relation to the provision of  additional parking for parents.  School Council has written letters to our local and federal member raising concerns about this issue and is likely to meet with representatives from Baw Baw Council at our next School Council Meeting. 

In the coming weeks, fencing will be going up as we prepare the site. The construction of the kindergarten building is relocatable in design with much of the construction done offsite.  We expect the building to arrive some time in November.

Celebrating World Teachers Day

In recognition of the talent, hard work and commitment of teachers everywhere, Victoria celebrated World Teachers' Day on Friday, 25 October.  Every day, Victorian children enjoy great education in our schools thanks to the tireless efforts of dedicated teachers from all over the state.

This year, World Teachers' Day focused on the future of the profession, under the theme #brightfuture. This theme highlights the work of teachers starting their careers in Victorian schools, as well as the role of the more experienced teachers in helping their new colleagues thrive.  On this day many of our staff came to work dressed as Superheroes.  Students put together a video in which they spoke about what makes my teacher a superhero.  This video was played to the school community at assembly.   

Gumbuya World

Foundation students visited Gumbuya World on 19th September as part of our Australian Animals studies.   As part of the experience they had two animal presentations:

Station 1: Who’s a pretty cocky?

With the Gumbuya World rangers’ students were immersed in the sulphur crested cockatoo aviary, learnt about their noise, movement and dance.  Rangers talked about the traditional land owners and how they mimic animals in their dance.  Students were encouraged to mimic the cockatoos using movement, dance and noise.

Station 2: Animal Farm

Students got up close with Gumuya’s animal petting zoo, learnt more about the animals about how they behave and the best way to respectfully handle them.

LAP-A-THON

On 18th October, Parents and Friends Association, in conjunction with the staff and students, ran our annual Trafalgar Primary School Lap-a-Thon.

Without this wonderful support from Parents and Friends Association, we would not be able to offer such a great range of experiences to our students.

Walk to School 2019

Trafalgar Primary School in conjunction with Baw Baw Shire are joining VicHealth in its mission to get kids walking, riding and scooting to school as part of the health promotion foundation’s annual Walk to School program.

Every October, Walk to School encourages families to get active on the trip to and from school, the program is a free, easy and fun way for kids to get active and build healthy habits.

Trafalgar Primary School is delighted to support Walk to School to encourage more kids to be active on the way to and from school.

Our kids are healthier and happier when they’re active every day, and walking to school is a great way to get their activity in.  We want to make walking to school easy and attractive for families during the month of October.  Walking, riding or scooting to and from school every day is an easy way to make physical activity part of kids’ daily life which is why the Walk to School program is so important.

By walking to school students will be helping to improve traffic congestion out the front of the school, improve social interaction with other students and make students more road safety savvy.

Last year more than 140,000 kids from over 750 schools across Victoria took part in Walk to School, travelling the equivalent distance of two return trips to the moon.

By taking part in the Walk to School Trafalgar Primary School will be in the running to win some fantastic prizes.  For more information visit the Walk to School website on www.walktoschool.vic.gov.au.

How it works:

1. Each Thursday morning for 4 weeks teachers will meet at Balfour Park at 8:15am to then walk to school.
2. The students who attend will be able to pick a ticket out of the lucky dip.
3. To win the prize, a student must pick out the GOLDEN TICKET.

We look forward to seeing a lot of students taking part in this program and continue their efforts of walking to school.

The Australian Ballet

On Wednesday October 17th, we were very fortunate to have some educators from The Australian Ballet coming to the School to conduct workshops with our Grade 5 and 6 students.  The sessions were run by the ballet educators and were based on STEAMDANCE.  STEAMDANCE uses a dance-education approach to teaching and learning about STEAM subjects; science, technology, engineering, arts and maths.

This program was delivered by The Australian Ballet Dance Education Team who are specialist educators and professional dancers.

Awards

State Schools' Relief

THE MYKI CARD PILOT PROGRAM

Beginning in Term 1, 2020 schools will be able place applications for Myki cards for any students experiencing significant financial hardship, preventing them from attending school due to the cost of travel. Each card will be sent via registered post directly to the school with an initial $100 value. Students will then be able to receive a further two $100 top ups upon completion of a short survey.

The data received from this survey will be critical for measuring the impact of this pilot program and will play a crucial part in obtaining funding to further provide travel assistance to those students that are particularly vulnerable. Please note: these cards will be available for primary and secondary students alike.

SWIMWEAR FOR SCHOOL SWIMMING PROGRAMS

We have listened to schools’ feedback about the cost of swimwear being prohibitive for some families and have added swimwear to our ever growing list of items that we are able to supply directly.  Stock for both female and male styles have been ordered and we will be ready to supply to schools beginning Term 1, 2020 (January).

There will be two styles available;

* One piece racer back for girls (navy) and

* Lycra trunks for boys (navy)

These bathers are made from premium materials and are guaranteed to survive the rigours of normal wear. Both styles are chlorine proof, piling resistant, offer 50+ UV protection and are breathable/self drying. (Sizes available for primary and secondary students).