From the Principal...

The term has commenced well and the students are settling back in to onsite learning. I am currently running the Attitudes to School Survey with students from Years 4 to 6. The questions were about how students perceived the school both during remote learning and onsite. The feedback from this survey has always proven useful in preparing for the following year. I have enjoyed reconnecting with the students whilst visiting their classrooms.

Building Update

It is with much excitement that I can announce that our STEAM centre is now fully furnished. The huge moving truck arrived yesterday and all the different furnishings were placed in the room. The feedback from students has been really positive as the enthusiasm builds around using this innovative space. We have advertised for a specialist STEAM teacher with the recruitment process to be finalised in a couple of weeks.

Supervision and Safety

The school is supervised in the yard from 8.45am each morning. Families are asked to refrain from sending children to school prior to this, for safety reasons. In the event children arrive too early at school, they will need to join before care to ensure they are supervised by an adult. This will incur a fee if it occurs on a regular basis. Please encourage your children to leave home at a suitable time so that they arrive at the school from 8:45 am.

I need to also address our concerns around drop off and pick up times. Some vehicles have been pulling up in restricted or disabled zones which may result in fines. The kiss and go areas are clearly marked and everyone should abide by all traffic conditions around the school. These restrictions are put in place by the local council and they do send officers to enforce these local laws.

Melbourne Cup Holiday & Curriculum Day

Just a friendly reminder that Tuesday 3rd November is a public holiday. The school is closed on this day. We are also holding a Curriculum Day on Friday 11th December for 2021 planning and preparation.

Student Illness

Students who are showing even the slightest signs of illness or being unwell should be kept home from school. If a student presents unwell at any time throughout the school day, parents will be called to come and collect their child.

Sun Smart Uniform – Hats on in Term 4

Please remind your child that they require their hat when outdoors at school. Any children without an approved school hat will be directed to a shaded area during recess and lunchtimes. Children also need to be wearing an approved uniform to school as per the school uniform policy.

New Enrolments 2021

We are looking at grade structures and staffing for next year and it is vital that we are as accurate as possible. If you know of anyone who is yet to enrol at Ormond PS for 2021, please ask them to finalise enrolment procedures. If you know your child will not be returning to us next year (apart from our Year 6’s) - please let us know as soon as possible.

Parent Opinion Survey

All households were invited to complete this year's Parent Opinion Survey which can be accessed on Compass. The Parent Survey is open until 13th November.

Child Safe Standards

Our school like all across the state, reviews a wide range of policies and protocols to ensure the Child Safe Standards are met. The Child Safe Standards apply to all organisations working with children and are aimed at creating (and maintaining) child safe cultures and environments. Our school is committed to meeting all Child Safe requirements.

Congratulations to the staff at OPS

This year our staff have truly displayed all of our school values. How proudly we’ve all worked together and supported each other to arrive at this time and place. Join me in celebrating the wonderful work our staff do every day. Happy World Teacher’s Day to my amazing staff!

Kerri McLeod,

Principal

Out of School Hours

Since we have been back at school the children who have attended the program are enjoying themselves. Children are exploring with new activities and coming up with new ideas. Many families would be aware of our magpie friends who visit the program daily. This has stimulated the children’s interest in birds and other wildlife, living in the school yard and the neighbourhood. I have extended the children’s curiosity with photography and plan to have a weekly camera group at After School Care. We would appreciate any donated digital cameras for the program.

We are looking forward to more children attending the program when some families return to work on the 9th November. We are accepting casual or permanent bookings for Before & After School Care. Please don’t hesitate to call the program if you would like to know the best days for your child’s friendship group, or you can text the booking with your child’s name, date & session type. (0439 111026)

January School Holiday Program 2021

The January School Holiday Program schedule will be available from Wednesday 4th November.

Basic Covid Safe Practice in the Service.

If you require more extensive information about our Covid Safe Procedure please text the service your email address for a copy of our procedures .(0439111026)

Children hand sanitise on arrival & leaving the service. Children are required to use hand sanitiser before and after play or when sharing equipment.
All equipment, toys & drawing material is cleaned & sanitised after use.
Parents remain outside the hall when dropping off & collecting children from the service.
Staff ensure, high touch surfaces in the service are wiped down and disinfected regularly (e.g. door handles, bathrooms, devices used by adults and children, tables, chairs).
This is in addition to our regular practise guided by the services regulatory authority the Department of Education and Training and the Public Health Unit of Glen Eira Council which the kitchen is certified with.

There is some useful information available at https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/what-you-need-to-know-about-coronavirus-covid-19#symptoms

Remembrance Day

SRC Representatives will be selling Remembrance Day Poppies from next Monday 2nd November. If you would like to purchase a poppy, please ensure to bring your gold coin (items range from $2-$5).

Book Week - Curious Creatures, Wild Minds

Last week students were involved in Book Week activities where they

enjoyed listening to this year’s shortlisted books.

Below are the winning books from the Children’s Book Council of Australia 2020:

‘The Little Wave’ by Pip Harry from the Young Reader’s Category
'I need a Parrot’ by Chris Mckimmie from the Picture Book of the Year
‘My Friend Fred’ by Frances Watts from the Early Childhood Category
‘When Billy was a Dog’ by Kirsty Murray (which was voted by our students as our favourite book)

All shortlisted books are available in the library for borrowing. Happy Reading!

Library News

Please return all library books, as well as classroom library books that were borrowed during remote learning as soon as possible please.

Foundation News

This week in Foundation A we have been planning and creating narrative stories. They are all fantastic! Here are a few to enjoy!

Year 1 News

Year 1 students have returned to school full on enthusiasm for their learning. They have learnt how to heft and use balance scales to compare the mass of objects. Students also discussed the difference between mass and weight. As we approach the end of the year, they have begun to revise previous topics. We have collected natural resources to represent hundreds, tens and ones and played many number games such as 100 Laughs, Hat-Trick and Math-Tac-Toe. Ask your children how to play these games or email the Year One teachers if you would like the instructions to play at home.

Year 2 News

Year 2A have been very busy dressing up for Footy Day and celebrating the Grand Final on Saturday 24th October. The students spent an afternoon designing footy jerseys and doing some mindful colouring all based around the big day.

All Year 2s celebrated Book Week 2020 by listening to many of the shortlisted books and discussing which texts were their favourite and why. This year’s theme was ‘Curious Creatures, Wild Minds’. Here are Year 2B sharing the ‘curious creatures’ they created during the week.

Year 3 News

Year 3 students have been exploring the concept of division. They have been looking at real world situations where division (otherwise known as sharing) can be applied. The engaging hands-on activities have proven to be very enjoyable.

Year 5 News

Last week the whole school celebrated book week. Year 5 students read all of the shortlisted books, created their own curious creature, wrote a letter to an aged care facility and created and interesting story. Here are some pictures of our ‘curious creatures’. As you can see we have some very creative and artistic children!

Year 6 News

Please enjoy this piece of writing during Book Week from one of our talented Year 6 students.

WILD MIND

Wild mind- wild hair, big brain hat, a hat with all your crazy ideas dangling off.

Ahhh… I screamed as I looked in the mirror and saw my hair. It was the biggest, ugliest most extravagant thing I’d ever seen. I tried everything to fix it but nothing worked. I heard a noise, it was a low gruff, raspy voice. I wondered where it came from. It continued to mumble but I couldn’t quite make out what it was saying. I had an unfriendly shiver run down my back, I could sense it was close. As thoughts went through my mind, my hair started growing as long as a giant bean stalk. My head was throbbing, I could feel the pain as my hair roots continued to grow. I snorted down the stairs as I heard a suspicious knock on the door. I opened the door to find a replica of myself standing before me. This ugly creatures movements started to mimic my own. It opened its mouth as if to speak but nothing came out. As the creature reached out, I froze in fear until an invisible shield stopped it. It banged its hand into the invisible shield, but then I felt the excruciating pain as a rush of heat ran through my body which triggered my hair to change colour. As the sweat dripped down my neck, I tried to pull my hair out, I managed to rip out a strand but the force from the barrier sent my body airborne.

There was a vulgar thud as I crashed down to the floor, I slowly stood up with pain down my arm and my leg and walked up the stairs as fast as I could, as I tried to get away from the monster. I looked back and the creature was standing at the bottom of the stairs, trapped inside the shield. It pulled something out of its jacket, it looked somewhat like a hat but not one I had seen before. It had strange mechanical legs and something on the top of it that looked like a sticky, sloppy brain. The creature placed it on the floor and it scuffled towards me. My body had a mind of its own and plunged at the big brain hat, I had tackled it down to the ground. I knocked my school bag over spilling everything inside out. The big brain hat screeched as it tried to reach for the paper and pencil that was now laid out on the floor. I gawked eagerly as it tried to write. I could only make out two words as it wrote… HELP ME!

Visual Arts News

As part of Book Week and this year's theme "Curious Creatures, Wild Minds", students from Foundation to Year 6 were encouraged to make their own curious creatures using recycled and repurposed materials from home. Students collected a range of boxes, tubes, empty cartons, plastic bags, wrapping paper etc and other things that could be reused to create a creature. Some students watched a tutorial on how to create creatures such as a Bush Box Buddy, a Terrifying Tube Fish, or The Frizzle Bird. Other students took inspiration and created what their own wild minds could imagine. It has been wonderful to see all the crazy creatures the Ormond PS artists have brought back to school, which are currently on display in the library cabinets. Check out the photo slideshow of their incredibly imaginative pieces of work.

Sport & PE News

It has been wonderful seeing students enjoy themselves doing PE in a group environment once again. While we have had to change a few things to ensure safe distancing, students are engaged in the various sports that they are playing. We are learning new sports including; Cricket, Tee-ball, Bench ball and Ultimate Frisbee.

Performing Arts News

We are excited to be back conducting Performing Arts at school this term! The students have all adapted to the ‘new normal’ in Performing Arts – exercising social distancing and enjoying working outside for some activities. We are working on our performing and audience skills with much success. It is fantastic to see that many students have been practising their musical instruments at home during remote learning and have been able to share these skills with us at school.

Students Vs Teachers

On Thursday 22nd October the second students versus teachers lunchtime game was held. This week we played a game of kickball. The students were first to ‘kick’ and got off to a sensational start. They were claiming home runs like professionals and the teachers were a little bit worried that their winning streak of one may come to an end. The students had a total score of 19 home runs out of a possible 25, leaving the teachers shaking in their boots. The teachers lifted and scored a miraculous 21, just getting over the line to be two wins from two games. We are all looking forward to the next game!

Thanks to the Year 5 officiators Adam, Ashwyn, Cade & Evie. Also thanks to Raph in Year 6 for taking photos.

On Friday October 30 the students versus teachers entered the third round. This week’s game was continuous cricket and the teachers were first up to bat. The term “continuous” fell a little flat for the teachers and they didn’t realise how much running was involved. They also didn’t realise how good and fit the students were. There were some classic catches throughout the match from Lachie T, Mr. Cap and Mr. Workman. It was another nail biter with the final scores Students – 62 Teachers – 58

Well done students on your first win of the term. The teachers are going hit the training track and come back bigger and better next week!

Virtual Assembly Library

Ormond Primary School

Issue 8 · 30 Oct 2020

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