Parkhill Primary School Newsletter
Issue 25, Thursday August 9 2018
Principal's Message
Dear Parents/Carers,
This week has been packed with activity – swimming is in full flow!! Thank you to those of you who have been able to support the program - we do very much appreciate it.
Art classes have been taking place in the new art facility throughout this week and the children are finding their way around the classroom.
Thanks to Suzanne for organising this term’s ‘Bring it Breaky’ and to those of you who joined us for a chat and to share some snacks.
As you will be aware we have been working towards re-establishing our school code of conduct and developing a school wide Essential Agreement. We have been working with the children through the buddy program to find out their thoughts about what school should look like, what their rights are and how they should be conducting themselves throughout the school day in all aspects of the curriculum – this includes the playground. We are keen to find out what you think. Please spend 10 minutes and complete the online survey with your thoughts and ideas so that we can incorporate these into the Essential Agreement. The survey is simple and should not take long to complete. We really need your voice in developing the school wide document.
Follow the link below to complete your survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6ZPBJ83
KIDSMATTER:
Learning to see another person’s point of view is important for getting along with others and building positive friendships. Understanding others helps children know what to do in social situations and is the basis for developing caring and responsibility. It’s not always easy for children to see the point of view of someone who is different from them. Being different could mean having a disability, coming from a different country, being a different age or gender, or having different values and interests. Children who are seen as different may be left out of activities. They may face discrimination because others think they are not as good, as talented, or as important as they are. Discrimination can have very negative effects on children’s self-esteem and mental health and wellbeing.
Taking others’ needs into account involves values of caring, compassion and acceptance of others. It also involves emotional skills for empathy. Learning to empathise with another person means learning to ‘walk in their shoes.’ It means being able to recognise and value their feelings and needs, even though they may be different from your own.
Skills for empathy develop over time and include:
recognising your own feelings;
recognising others’ feelings;
listening to others’ opinions;
thinking what it would feel like if you saw the situation their way;
thinking how you can respond in a caring way;
doing something to help.
Some children find it easy to tune into feelings. Others need more guidance to learn empathic skills. Adults have an important role in supporting children to learn kindness and empathy.
How can parents and carers help?
Research has found that the examples shown by caring adults have a big influence on children’s empathy. Parents and carers (as well as school staff) can also foster empathy by promoting values of caring and compassion and coaching children to be kind and thoughtful towards others.
Model empathy by tuning into children’s feelings (eg. “Ouch! That must have hurt,” or “You must be feeling disappointed that your friend can’t come over”).
Help children think about how feelings affect other people (eg. “How do you think your friend might be feeling?”).
Help children develop skills for understanding other people’s points of view by discussing the effects of discrimination and the importance of respectful and caring attitudes towards everybody.
Talk about situations that involve empathy (eg. “What I liked about the story was how kind the hero was,” or “That was a mean thing to do. Don’t you think she should have helped her friend?”).
Notice when children are kind and let them know you value their behaviour (eg. “That was a very thoughtful thing to do. I really appreciate it!”).
How to support children to accept and include others
Teach children that there is nothing wrong with being different and that each of us is different to somebody else.
Teach children that everyone has a right to be respected.
Help children develop skills for positive friendships and cooperative play.
Parents and carers of children with special needs can talk to their children’s teachers about how to support their strengths and about encouraging other children to include them.
INTO INQUIRY:
Throughout the school children have been tuning in to their learning, asking questions and planning their finding out. Below is the detail of the units of work for the first part of the term.
THREE-WAY CONFERENCES:
Three-Way Conferences will run next week – again some of the conference times are in the afternoon and some in the evening. Y3-6 are on Monday afternoon from 2pm – 4pm, while F-Y2 are on Tuesday afternoon from 2pm – 4pm. On Wednesday, all class teachers are available, and you can book appointments with our specialist staff too, from 3:50pm – 7pm. Please use the booking code below to make your booking online. If you are struggling to use the system, do pop into the office. We can help you!
REMINDERS:
2018 school fees (Essential Education Items) are overdue – if you have not yet paid this fee please contact the office ASAP. A letter will be issued this week if you are outstanding on your account. It is important to note that the school has to subsidise any fees that are not paid by families. These subsides are paid out of our curriculum budgets.
Have a great weekend,
Elaine Brady
Principal
Calendar of Curriculum Events
Monday August 13-Wednesday August 15 - Three-Way Conferences
Tuesday August 14 - ICAS Maths
Friday August 17 - Y5/6 Winter Round Robin
Tuesday August 21 - Story time
Friday August 31 - Father's Day Stall
Monday September 3 - Swimming Carnival
Thursday September 6 - Foundation Hearing Screening
Friday September 7 - Y5/6 Basketball Round Robin (selected students)
Wednesday September 12-Thursday September 13 - School Concert
Tuesday September 18 - Story time
Friday September 21 - Term 3 ends at 2:30pm
Student of the Week
FS - Mariam S
FT - Aria G
1B - Jackson M
1H - Samuel L
2C - Lucia B
2N - Benji E
3M - Noah T
3R - Georgia K
4G - Abigail E
4O - Noah C
5D - Juod K
5H - Yashar M
First Aid
There have been multiple reports of croup in Foundation. If your child is exhibiting symptoms of croup, please keep them home until they are well.
When Is “The Little School on the Hill”?
I’ve been hearing tales of singing tunes at home and moving boxes around - don’t worry, your child isn’t going to race off and join the circus, they are just practising for concert!
We are in the thick of it now, furiously learning lyrics and memorising melodies before the big show week! I will fill you in on more details closer to the date, but for now, I can reveal the dates!
Get ready to book these dates into your diary:
Matinee show - 12th September
Evening shows - 12th and 13th of September
We have made the decision to bring everyone back together. That means that each student will be at all of the three performances.
We will keep the split cast, however, for the acting team, to allow more actors and give us some variety between performances.
The cast list is repeated below, with a slight correction - Dan P is one of our Dads! Sorry Dan! Miss Smith can't read her own writing!
It’s getting exciting!
Michelle Smith
Assistant Principal
Y6 Creative Convention
Wow, what a fabulous display our Y6 students put on last Friday at our Creative Convention. The event was a celebration of the learning students had experienced around the creative and production processes. Students presented their own creative products to an audience of fellow students, parents and special guests.
Dream catchers, greeting cards, Barbie clothing, shopping bags and artworks were a small selection of the items on show and presented for sale. Many thanks to the individuals who supported our Convention with their attendance and purchases. After much discussion, Y6 have decided the that the $286.00 raised during the Convention will be donated to the Edge Fund, which often subsidises Parkhill students to attend events such as school camps and excursions.
Congratulations Y6, your creativity and knowledge about the production process really shone through!
Andrea Crane
Y6 Teacher
Jayda G's Fundraiser to Save Endangered Animals
It has been fantastic to see Jayda G from 2C take action after learning about endangered animals within her Inquiry unit. Jayda has taken matters into her own hands by starting a ‘Guess the Jellybean’ fundraiser within the Y2 class. The gold coin donations lead to a total of $36 raised, which has been donated to the WWF conservation organisation. She spent time and effort making the posters to promote her fundraiser, and has dug into her own pocket to spend money on all equipment needed. It has been a testament to Jayda’s character to want to make change for endangered animals.
Isobella Crowe
Y2 Teacher
Don't Palm Us Off!
So people are buying palm oil products like Pringles, Skittles, and KitKats. That’s bad because then they will cut down more trees to plant more palm oil plantations.
The animals that are affected by palm oil plantations are orangutans, Sumatran rhinos Sumatran tigers, proboscis monkeys, bay cats, clouded leopards, sun bears, flat headed cats, Malayan tapirs, Asian elephants, lar gibbons and fishing cats.
The change we need to make is to look for correct products in shopping centres. When you go shopping look for the sustainable palm oil sign on packaging to save the wildlife.
Orlando T, Raf J, Najim S, Ayesha K, Shania V, Benji E, Noah S, 2N
PFA News
Committee Members:
President: Vanessa Cowley
Vice President: Katrina Battle
Treasurer: Sumi Sundram
Secretary: Kylie Touloupis
Communications: Eva Conley
General Members: Fiona Crellin, Jason Van Lint, Elle Delmee, Mark Havas, Lisa Jacobson, Anny Murray, Wendy Douglas, Janneke Storteboom, Leanne Knight
Parkhill’s Comedy Night
Thank you so much to those that came out and supported Parkhill’s Comedy Night. The comedy was truly hilarious creating a fun and social atmosphere. Thank you to Kylie Brown, our resident bar keeper, you were most appreciated by everyone! The PFA are pretty awesome at putting on these kinds of events and the Comedy Night was no exception. Well done to you all!
Cupcake Stall
Thank you to Donna E, Helen D, Michelle T, Paula H, Julie Mc, Eva C, Leanne K, Kylie B, Elle D, Kylie T and Vanessa for the yummy selection of handmade goodies that put a smile on Parkhill’s face this week. They looked fantastic (and tasted even better) and flew off the table.
Father’s Day Wrapping Bee 23 August & Father’s Day Stall 31 August
We’d love your help! Please follow the links and sign up.
FATHER'S DAY WRAPPING BEE - http://signup.com/go/Wrhpayv
FATHER'S DAY STALL - http://signup.com/go/oRgGXfE
Please email Kylie at parents.friends.secretary@gmail.com with any queries.
PFA Meeting Thursday 23 August 8.00pm
All welcome to attend. Vanessa will be hosting the meeting please RSVP to Kylie at parents.friends.secretary@gmail.com for the address.
Parkhill Primary School
Email: parkhill.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au
Website: www.parkhillps.vic.edu.au
Location: 4A Parkhill Drive, Ashwood VIC, Australia
Phone: 03 9807 2239