A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Meredith Thornton who has been announced as a finalist in the 2021 Netball Victoria Community Awards in the Teacher of the Year category. A teacher since 1986, Meredith worked at the Department of Sport & Recreation as Vic Sport's Experience Program Manager with the Australian Sports Commission showcasing various sports around Victoria and then in various schools before her time at ACPS. Since 2007 she has been PE teacher (and more recently Acting Principal) at ACPS with a passion for sport. Meredith has also been involved at the Warrandyte Netball Club for many years on the committee successfully applying for grants, coaching teams and on the Warrandyte Sporting Group committee responsible for the construction of the new clubrooms. Meredith is a past recipient of the WNC Person of the Year Award. A local business owner, Meredith runs The White Owl Café and was the founding director of the Warrandyte Community Bank. Meredith is the epitome of community mined. To say we are proud of her is an understatement and we are so lucky to have her at ACPS. We are so delighted she has been recognised for her contributions to netball, sport and teaching.

Christmas Hamper Food Donation - CareNet

Normally on the final day of Term 4 we have a food drive to support families over the Christmas break. This year we are joining with CareNet to help provide Christmas hampers to families in need within our community. To have these hampers delivered in time for Christmas we are calling for food donations earlier than we have in past years. CareNet have provided us with lists of items needed the most to fill these hampers. Donations can be left at the office up until Friday 26 November when CareNet will collect them so they can commence delivery of hampers prior to Christmas.

Thanking you in advance for your support of this worthy cause.

SUSTAINABILITY “GREEN THUMB” NEWS

This week we have started our ‘soft plastic’ collection in every classroom. Green thumbs are invited to take home ‘soft plastics’ each week or bring them to 2SB classroom and they will be kindly deposited at local collection sites by Ellissa Nitschinsk who works in our library. Check out the photos of Myles and Joel showcasing our new initiative. The Nude Food lunch competition will start up again in the coming weeks.

DONATIONS WELCOMED:

To support us to re-envigorate our precious Children’s Garden and develop a closer connection for all students to our environment, we are seeking some help to gather the following:

Flat wood for plant signs – eg Wood decking offcuts/ fence palings in good condition

Stakes – wood or bamboo

Nails or screws – size to be confirmed when wood received.

Metal teaspoons or dessert spoons for herb labels.

Donations of sunflower seeds.

Donation of potting mix for general use.

Onsite volunteering/interest when parents permitted back onsite for gardening support.

Seeds – vegetable or flowers (hoping to start a seed bank for use in Grade 1+2 learning and garden)

Children size gardening gloves

Thanks for donations thus far. Please deliver any further donations to the office and/or email Sarah Bailey Sarah.Bailey2@education.vic.gov.au with your intentions.

Thank you so much!

PRODUCTION:

The Grade 5 /6 Production of "What a Knight" will be held on Tuesday November 23 commencing at 6.30pm.

Any student who needs to be a microphone with wire must be at school by 5.30pm.

All other students to be in their classroom by 6.15pm.

Entry tickets for the Production for grade 5 and 6 families have been covered by payments made throughout 2021 for events that have either been cancelled or not completed in their entirety.

Any families from prep to grade 4 are welcome to come along and pay $5 per adult at the door, all children are free.

Please line up from 6pm at the main door so that you can QR code in and have your vaccination certificate ready showing at least one vaccination, as this is a school event masks are still required inside and sanitising is essential.

BOP TIL YOU DROP

Many thanks to our parent helpers who made Bop Til You Drop such a success.

The students all enjoyed a fun night dancing with their friends.

CANTEEN/FUNDRAISING NEWS

It's been a quiet year so far for our fund-raising efforts, but Bop 'til you Drop last night was a great night with the children having a fantastic time.

We will be having a baked goods sale at the canteen next Friday recess (November 26) and we'd love as many homemade cookies, brownies and muffins as we can get. More details will be sent out early next week and the goodies can be dropped off on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. This will be the first and last sale for the year, so it's your chance to show off your baking skills (or perhaps your children's baking skills) and help the school raise some money.

It's also time to bring back the traditional lunchtime sausage sizzle which we will be holding on Wednesday 8 December. Order forms will be sent out the week before and we will be looking for volunteers to help out with the cooking and serving of the sausages. If you're able to help, please let Jo know.

Vaccination requirements for parents and carers attending schools

Department of Education Policy still requires all parents and carers attending schools, including for drop off and pick up must continue to adhere to face mask requirements and practise respiratory etiquette and good hand hygiene as .

Parents and carers who enter school buildings must check in using the QR code.

Parents and carers who enter school buildings must also have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and must have had two doses of COVID-19 vaccine by 29 November 2021 or have a valid medical exception with the following limited exceptions:

when attending to administer medical treatment to their own child when the treatment cannot be administered by the school
when attending to collect their child who is unwell and cannot leave the school building unaccompanied by their parent/carer.
when attending for a momentary period that does not involve any sustained contact with staff or students, for example, to collect a completed art project or similar

Parents and carers attending any event or activity inside a school building including, but not limited to tours, graduations, kindergarten transition, whole of school events are required to show evidence of vaccination.

Meetings and other discussions (such as Student Support Group meetings) with parents and carers who do not meet vaccination requirements should be held virtually.

Parents and carers attending school sites for drop off and pick up who do not enter school buildings do not need to comply with vaccination requirements.

External providers who use or hire school facilities outside of school hours must ensure that use aligns with the Open Premises Directions including vaccination requirements.

YAGA AWARDS

Exciting News!

At Assembly last week I introduced our YAGA Awards:

You

Are

Great

Awards

Staff can nominate students who are behaving in a positive manner in the classroom, in Specialist classes and in the playground for this Award. We are promoting the concept of Being Your Best! This is part of the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Program.

Certificates will be presented each week at Assembly.

Foundation Enrolments

Our school council "media and communications" team, expertly led by Volkan Ozturk, have been doing an amazing job promoting our school. You may have noticed the billboards around Warrandyte, articles in the Warrandyte Diary and our online campaigns.

If you know of any local families who are considering our school who have not yet enrolled, or perhaps have a sibling that is not enrolled yet, we encourage you to get in touch with Jo at the office asap to secure a place.

Sue Dyos

Principal

Grade 5/6