Principal Report & School News
From the Principal...
Lockdown No.6
As you are aware the Premier announced the Lockdown #6 restrictions for Victoria. The Lockdown restrictions will be in place from 8pm Thursday 5th August for a 7-day period. Following advice from the Victorian Chief Health Officer, all Victorian schools will commence a period of remote and flexible learning from Friday 6th August to Thursday 12th August inclusive. Families at Ormond Primary School should keep lines of communication open using online remote learning platforms, as well as COMPASS. Classroom instruction will continue to be delivered via Google Classroom and See Saw. WEBEX and Google Team meetings will also be scheduled. I cannot stress enough, the importance of all students connecting with their classroom teachers on a daily basis. This is a school priority and informs us of attendance each day.
As with other remote learning periods, our school will provide on-site supervision for students in the below categories. Please contact Brodie in the office for more details.
- Children where both parents and/or carers are authorised workers who cannot work from home, work for an essential provider and where no other supervision arrangements can be made
- Where there are two parents/carers, both must be authorised workers, working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision
- For single parents/ carers, the authorised worker must be working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision
- Children experiencing vulnerability including children in out-of-home care, as well as children deemed vulnerable by a government agency
Year 7 Placements
It does not seem that any time has passed since we first mentioned the secondary school applications and we are in August already. The application process is coming to an end as far as the primary school’s involvement is concerned. Parents of Year 6 students who have applied for a Government School place should have received their confirmation letters this week. If you have not received it, please contact Mary Thanos in Year 6.
From here on, the secondary schools will be sending out enrolment forms and further information. If your circumstances have changed and you no longer need the Government secondary school place, please notify Ms. Thanos and also inform the secondary school. We will continue to support your children, in the best way we can, to enable them to make a smooth transition to their secondary schools. Thank you to the Year 6 parents and teachers who worked through this process in what has been a challenging time.
Parent Opinion Survey
Each year the school conducts an opinion survey amongst a sample of the school community. This year, a sample of approximately 30 per cent of parents/caregivers/guardians were randomly selected and invited to participate. Results will be used to inform and direct our future school planning and improvement.
Online Safety Reminder
With COVID-19 having us teach and learn remotely, your child will be spending more time online. There are tips available on the e-safety government website and parts of this will be shared in our newsletter to assist you in keeping your child safe. It’s not possible to be at your child’s side every second of the day, so it’s important to talk with them about online safety issues to help develop their critical thinking and ability to make good choices.
It’s also good to let them know they can come to you for help. You may feel they know more about the latest technology than you do, but you have more life experience to guide them.
- Take the opportunity to set some boundaries around when and where they can use devices like tablets, smart TVs and gaming consoles, to help limit potential tech tantrums.
- While you are all at home more, it’s a great time to co-view and co-play with your kids, so you can understand what they are doing and experiencing online.
- Learn about the games, apps, social media and platforms they are using at the E-Safety Guide, including how to protect their information and report inappropriate content or conduct.
- Encourage them to explore E-Safety’s targeted advice for kids (primary school) and young people (secondary school).
- Check E-Safety’s tips for talking with your child about tricky personal subjects like online pornography
Enrol Now for 2022
We are open for 2022 enrolments and forms are available from Brodie in the front office. If you have a child turning 5 by April 30, 2022, please complete an enrolment form return it to the office with the supporting documentation as soon as possible. It helps us enormously with planning, if we have a clear indication of enrolments as early as possible.
Health and Wellbeing
Just as we set aside time to do physical exercise, it is important we all make time each day to check in on mental health and wellbeing.
Here are some links to support family wellbeing that you may find helpful:
Smiling Minds
https://www.smilingmind.com.au/smiling-mind-app
Kerri McLeod
Principal
Out of School Hours Care
It is great to see parents and children back into the school and Before & After School Care routine.. (when we aren't in lockdown)
For now, parents must sign their children out of After School Care at the table outside the hall door. Please check the program’s notice board for distancing requirement when arriving at Before School Care and collecting your children from the After School Care.
Jumper Rule
During the colder weather in Term 2 & 3, we require children to wear a jumper outside. Children will be allowed to remove their jumper/jacket, if they are participating in sport or physical activity. Parents can exclude their children from this rule by providing a note stating their child is not required to wear a jumper outside during cold weather.
Donations
We are replenishing our dress up and dramatic play box. We need a sturdy safe long mirror, hats, jewellery, bangles & strings of beads. We would appreciate, any donation of these items.
Note of Appreciation
I would like to thank, the Nina Tyndall and her family, for their generous donation of dress ups the girls were delighted to wear during a dancing activity.
Digital Entertainment Book Membership Fundraiser
Ormond Primary School is fundraising with Entertainment. Many of you may remember the Entertainment book. Well, they have gone digital and have become Entertainment: an easy-to-use membership app that’s updated every few minutes – instead of once a year.
Members will have access to thousands of great offers from businesses in dining, travel, activities and retail – across thousands of locations. Whether you’re in a major city, regional area or country town, Entertainment is your ticket to incredible experiences. Often at half the price, too.
If you would like to purchase an Entertainment membership for $69.99 please click on the link below (*there is currently a fantastic August promotion, see attached flyer). Your 12-month membership will start the day you make your purchase.
20% of every membership sale made through the link will go to Ormond Primary School. This money will go towards purchasing additional learning resources for our children.
http://www.entbook.com.au/186r356
Please pass this link on to family and friends who may be interested in purchasing an Entertainment membership.
Library News
The reclassification of the non-fiction area has now been completed.
We have put new classification stickers on the different sections. This new system will make it easier for both the junior and senior students to access.
In the coming weeks the library will be setting up a display of the short listed books from Scholastic. We were lucky enough to purchase these books for our school. The students will be able to borrow the short listed books after book week.
If there is something you would like to see in the library please come speak to us or email the school at Ormond.ps@education.vic.gov.au
Book Week - Dress-up Day - 25th August
Ormond Primary will celebrate Book Week on 21 -27 August. This year's theme is Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other World. Students and staff will participate in numerous events to celebrate, including a dress up day on Wednesday 25th August. Students are encouraged to start thinking about a character they would like to come dressed as from their favourite book. There will be a school parade outside if the weather and lockdown permits.
We cant wait to see all your characters!
English PLAT Team
Premiers Reading Challenge 2021
The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and Ormond Primary is excited to be participating. The PRC application offers a range of exciting features including:
- access to a library catalogue (including book images and blurbs)
- a modern user-friendly interface
- rewarding students with badges as challenge milestones are achieved
- the option for students to mark books as a favourite, give them a star rating or complete a book review
The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 17 September 2021.
Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books.
All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers.
To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklist and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit: www.education.vic.gov.au/prc
Foundation News
Last week the Foundation students began our PMP program. This is a movement-based program which helps improve their eye/hand and eye/foot coordination, fitness, balance, locomotion and eye-tracking skills. The children were ably assisted through a rotation of fun and challenging activities, by some of our wonderful Year 6 students.
Another fabulous learning experience to look forward to each week.
Year 2 News
The Year 2 students have been looking at different places in our local community. This week they started working on a mural displaying the various places of interest in the local Ormond & McKinnon community. Once finished the mural will be on display outside the Year 2 classrooms.
Year 3 News
The Year 3 students enjoyed decorating their potato to participate in the Potato Olympics. They weighed their competitor and measured their height and girth. Once the participant has passed their COVID test they will join the rest of their team representing their country, enter the stadium; ready for the games to begin.
Year 4 News
Last week Year 4 students paired up with the Foundation students to do some peer reading. The primary role of peer reading is to provide opportunities for reading aloud in a pair, rather than in front of the entire class. Oral reading in a peer tutoring setting provides students with a safe, supportive environment where they can practice reading fluency without the pressure of reading aloud to a large group. This can reduce anxiety in struggling readers who may not be comfortable being put on the spot with an audience. The lesson was enjoyed by all involved.
Year 5 News
In Year 5 we have been focusing on using descriptive sensory language in our writing. To get into the descriptive writing mindset, we went through different experiments that explored the senses to be able to write about. We nibbled on carrots and munched on mandarins, noting down the different ways we experienced the food with all of our senses.
We also played a game where we had to throw a ping pong ball into a cup from the other end of the table. We found it a little difficult to make sure we were using the right amount of force in our throw and feeling our bodies become still to get perfect aim. Some of us noted that we held our breath to try and focus our throw. The roar that went up when a few of us made the shot was deafening! We had a lot to write about after that session.
Year 6 News
Last week in Science, the Year 6 students focused on how different temperatures, liquids and substances can affect yeast. They had to conduct a fair test and make predictions and observations about the different reactions they observed.
Visual Art News
Whole School Mural
Our Year 6 Arts Captains and some of their team members have begun work on painting our school mural to create a calm landscape with our school values. Here are some photos showcasing the first steps they have made towards completing this epic piece of work. As the work progresses, more students across the school will have an opportunity to take part in adding to the mural. Stay tuned as we update you on its progress.
2021 Ormond Oak Leaf Year Book Front Cover
The Year Book for 2021 is well underway and a competition will be run by the Arts Captains for students to submit an entry to design our front cover. Stay tuned for more information and keep an eye out for how to order your copies via Compass.
Visual Arts during Remote Learning
The students have done an amazing job continuing their Visual Arts learning at home. Please have a look at the photos showcasing some of the wonderful art works students completed during Lockdown #5.
Happy Creative Days,
Ms Helen Kupfer