Important Notices
Book Mark heroes
Last term we were contacted by Port Phillip Library Services and invited to be part of a bookmark competition. The brief was ‘WILD’ …. The students were asked, “What does ‘wild’ mean to you?”
I was pretty chuffed to hand deliver over 300 designs from the students at SKiPPS and even more chuffed when I was contacted to say that from hundreds and hundreds of entries, that 5 of them were from SKiPPS students.
The winners have been presented with their own certificate and a prize of a $50 Readings vouchers. Perhaps the most exciting part is that these students are going to have their designs printed onto bookmarks which will be available from City of Port Phillip Libraries.
Congratulations to;
Harrison M – Foundation
“I love reading about Superheroes, Batman is my favourite. My bookmark is a picture of a wild beast.” Harrison
Michaela G – Foundation
“My favourite books are Rainbow Magic and books about fairies. I love learning how to read.” Michaela
Arabella S – Foundation
“I drew a vampire and a snow leopard. I think they are wild. I love reading the Princess Black chapter books.” Arabella
Cooper M – Year 4
“I love reading funny books. I really enjoyed making my bookmark. I worked hard on my own and I am proud of my drawing.” Cooper
Olive B S – Year 5
“In my picture, I tried to capture realism and abstract. I tried to use as many colours as I could in that colour scheme. I love reading David Walliams books because his illustrations are so expressive.” Olive
Please see the winning entries below
As always, well done to everyone who participated. All of the entries were unique and captivating.
Why don’t you all grab a bookmark and go and read, read, read!
Jacqueline Morphy Literacy Leader
End-of-term arrangements
Whilst December still seems some way off, I wanted to update you on arrangements and a change to our plans for how we will finish the school year.
At our School Council meeting last week, it was agreed that students would not be required at school on Tuesday 20th December in order to repay staff with time in lieu that they will accumulate during our many school events this term that will require them to attend outside of their normal working hours (Celebration of the Arts, Graduation, Foundation Information Evening, school camps, etc).
Time in lieu for these kind of activities is a new entitlement for teachers and staff as a part of the 2022 Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VGSA). Previously staff were expected to attend and work at these activities with no additional pay or time in lieu provided.
This change will mean that classes will finish for the year at 3:30pm on Monday 19th December.
Team Kids will offer a full-day program at the school on Tuesday 20th December for those families that require childcare.
Walkathon
Thanks to everyone involved in our annual SKiPPS walkathon last term. It was wonderful to see so many enthusiastic students walking, running, cycling, scootering and some even brave enough to be in their rollerskates for the event. Whole school events such as the walkathon are important school community events that showcase the school values of resilience, respect , creativity and kindness and these values were proudly displayed throughout the afternoon.
We are now in the process of finalising the donations from the sponsors and thank the community for their generosity. The money raised can be paid to the school via Compass. Simply log in and click on 'Course Confirmation/School payments', and the 'Walk-a-thon' (optional item) to make payment.
T20 Cricket World Cup Clinics
We were thrilled this week to be invited by Cricket Victoria to send two separate groups of students to take part in cricket clinics with the England (at the MCG) and Afghanistan (at Junction Oval) Men's Cricket Teams.
Both teams are in town as part of the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup and took some time to meet with our students to sign autographs and run some skills activities.
In all, 60 of our students in Years 3-6 were able to participate in this wonderful opportunity to get involved with a sporting event watched by millions around the world. We are sure that meeting and working with these international sports stars will be something they will remember for a long time.
Classes for 2023
As we plan ahead for 2023, class teachers are also starting the process of creating class groupings for next year.
In doing this, our staff work very hard to create a perfect balance of gender, personalities and strengths within each class to allow for the best possible learning to take place.
Later in the term students will be asked to select friends who they would like to be in a class with next year and our teachers always do their best to ensure at least one of these choices are placed with them.
Occasionally parents have requests for class placements for the following year. Whilst we are unable to accept requests for a particular teacher, we are happy to try and accommodate reasonable requests.
If you have a request, please email me at neil.scott@education.vic.gov.au
Student Well Being
The final 'Healthy Parents' webinar for 2022 will be held on 17th November at 7.30 - 8.30pm. SKiPPS parents have reported that these webinars have been very informative and helpful. All of the three webinars are recorded and you are welcome to watch them again or at a later date in you are unable to join in on the night.
Mango Fundraiser Update
Our Mango Fundraiser online sales closed over the weekend and we have been blown away by the response.
This year we have sold 160 trays to our school community.
This has resulted in a profit of $1440! A huge thank you to all parents and carers who got involved and placed an order.
We are expecting delivery of the mangoes to school in the week of the 28th November - 2nd December. We will keep people updated with more detail when we know it.