Parkhill Primary School Newsletter
Issue 23, Thursday August 8 2019
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.
Thanks to Suzanne for organising this terms ‘Bring it Breaky’ which will be held in the staffroom on Monday 12th August from 9am – come along and share some food and chats.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING:
Learning to be tolerant and respectful of others is key to being successful in life. Due to the fact that children mimic their parents, tolerance can be easily taught to a child from an extremely early age. Many parents are friends with people from different cultural backgrounds, and an easy way for parents to teach their kids to be tolerant is to learn and share more about the heritage of their friends. Sometimes, simply being educated about the customs, holidays, and beliefs of another person is enough to foster tolerance in a home. A lack of education can lead to stereotyping groups of individuals, and denying the qualities that make them unique. When a child learns to be open-minded about the various cultures, foods, people, and faiths surrounding them, the easier it will be for them to accept others when they get older.
Here are 4 tips to helping develop a tolerant child:
Make them feel special, safe, and loved. Don't spare words of praise or affection. A loved child learns to love others.
Teach them about new places, people, and cultures. Expose them to different perspectives through books, music, food, and cultural events. Intervene when you hear or see intolerant behaviour and encourage healthier ways they can interact with others.
Use positive comments to shape and reinforce their behaviour. Instead of saying "No," offer helpful alternatives, such as "Be gentle," or "Why don't you take turns?"
Model tolerance and respect. They’ll learn how to interact with others by watching how you discuss, relate to, and value people.
THREE WAY CONFERENCES:
Three-Way Conferences will be in week 7 this term, 27th and 28th August. Some of the conference times are in the afternoon and some in the evening. In term 1 we ran a new model of Parent-Teacher interviews, which worked really well with positive feedback across the school. This term we are keen to pursue the Three-Way conference model with a change to our structure and focus of those meetings. Tuesday will be our afternoon session from 2pm – 4pm, and on Wednesday our evening session will run from 3:50pm – 7pm, where you can book appointments with our specialist staff too. The booking forms will come home soon.
LIBRARY REESTABLISHMENT GROUP:
Our library reestablishment group has been meeting through term 2 to plan how we go about getting our library back into play. We have recently carpeted the area and are now looking to cull our non-fiction stock. There are boxes and boxes of dated non-fiction texts. We are planning a working bee to cull the collection of any materials that are pre 2000. If you are able to help support the working bee please let me know – there will be a morning tea as thanks on the day.
Working Bee: Monday 2nd September from 9:15 am
OTHER:
Policy links
Through our website you can keep up to date with our current policies. I would like to draw attention to our Bikes and Scooters policy: https://parkhillps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Bicycles-and-Scooters-Parkhill-Primary-School-Policy-V-2017-2.pdf
Many of you may be unaware of the rules around usage of bikes and scooters in the school grounds. The policy states that bicycles and scooters should not be ridden inside the school grounds between 7am and 6pm on school days.
I have noted recently that more and more children are riding after school around the asphalt – this is dangerous as our playground is a busy place with little ones running around. Please do respect this rule for the safety of everyone on the playground. Other lines within the policy refer to wearing helmets and ensuring that the bike or scooter is safe.
Please do check out the calendar dates below for the terms events.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Elaine Brady
Principal
Calendar of Curriculum Events
Friday 9 August - Y5/6 Winter Round Robin & Y5/6 Migration Session for parents 3 -3.45pm
Thursday 15 August - Story Time
Monday 19 August - Book Week starts
Tuesday 20 August - March of the Fire Ants Incursion
Thursday 22 August - Learning Celebration (more details to follow)
Friday 23 August - Book Parade
Tuesday 27 August - Parent Teacher Interviews ( more details to follow)
Wednesday 28 August - Parent Teacher Interviews
Thursday 29 August - Y5/6 Yakult excursion
Friday 30 August- Basketball Round Robin ( selected students )
Monday 2 September -Library Working Bee
Thursday 5 September - Swimming Carnival (please note change of date)
Friday 6 September - Division Athletics ( selected students)
Monday 9 September - Science Week
Tuesday 10th September - Evening Soiree
Thursday 12 September - Story Time
Friday 20 September - Footy Day, Term 3 ends 2.30pm
Student of the week
F/1S - Daniel V
F/1T - Callum D
2/3G - Daniel W
2/3L - Callan O
2/3M - Sebastian M
4D - Campbell K
4O - Asha W
5/6A - Aston K
5/6CS - Jess Morgan
5/6H - Levi S
Bring It Breaky
Our next “Bring it Breaky” is coming up, we’d love you to come enjoy breakfast with us.
When: Monday 12th August , 9:00-9:30am
Where: Staffroom
Please bring something you would enjoy for breakfast to share (or just bring yourselves).
Who: All welcome
Thanks,
Suzanne
We want our parents to tell us what they think!
Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The Parent Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents. It is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of parents’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour and student engagement. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.
Approximately 30 per cent of parents will be invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. This year the Parent Opinion Survey will be conducted from Monday 22nd July to Sunday 11th August.
The survey will be conducted online, only takes 10-15 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in a range of languages other than English. These include: Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Chin (hakha), Hindi, Japanese, Somali, Turkish, Punjabi and Greek.
Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like more information.
STEAM Y4
A Good Question: Density and Buoyancy
A question is the heart of an experiment. During STEAM, Y4 students are learning about which kind of questions make the best kind of experiments.
Students were given some questions to choose from. Now, some of the below questions have the potential to make great experiments while others don’t. See if you can spot which!
How does shape impact floating/sinking?
Does wood always float?
Does the type of water change the buoyancy of the objects in it?
Does the volume of water affect how things float/sink in it?
Do blue things float?
Do trees float?
Interestingly, every single question was represented by student choice, but while some teams found designing an experiment to test their question quite straightforward, other teams found the opposite. For example, teams who chose the question “Does the water type affect buoyancy?” began immersing objects in hot, cold, salty or muddy water and got their answers straight away, while the team who chose the question “Do blue things float?” quickly discovered the question’s limitations. “It depends,” they said, on the density of the blue object being tested. Colour, they quickly realised, has nothing to do with buoyancy.
Riddles by 5/6CS
In 5/6CS we have been trying to stump each other with some cryptic riddles. Writing our own was harder than solving them. Read a few of the riddles we came up with:
I have one eye.
You can thread something through me and I go in a cushion?
What am I? A needle
I come in many sizes.
I wear clothing.
I have up to four eyes, but no mouth, no nose, no ears.
What am I? A button
I have a name, but I never lived.
Where I have been, others haven’t
Messages are told, but never said.
What am I? A Myth
I am edible, but now well known.
I am green at the right time.
I am not tasty by myself.
What am I? Thyme
What has 24 legs and 2 wings, but can’t fly?
A soccer team
Narrative Text by 5/6C
5/6CS was given the prompt ‘Red’ and asked to write a narrative. Students did a wonderful job producing some imaginative texts.
Red - by Amelia
As I walk around the woods I can see lots of big beady eyes looking at me. If I look up I can only see the biggest blood moon I have ever seen. I dash into the bushes just in time, a hunter walks past. I walk out of the bush and sit down. I look up, the blood moon is still there looking at me. I doze off for about and hour and wake up to a deafening sound. I quickly jump into the bushes. I peek my head out and see a tiny goat sprint past. The hunter shoots, it’s blood goes everywhere. It’s time is up.
Red - by Caleb
I run through the field having the time of my life. Then I feel a stabbing pain near my ankle. The red blood trickles down my leg as I see the wound. I investigate to see what would have cut me. I glance around and something catches my eye, a bright red rose. I can't help but stare, it’s bright color fascinates me. It stands out in the rest of the field. The sharp thorns poke out and protect. I keep running still thinking about the rose.
Red - by Tom
‘We have lift-off!’ is what rings in my ears for a moment before I realise that I’m speeding through the air, trying to gain a speed of 11km per second. As Earth starts shrinking to a marble, I check the dials and levers, making sure they’re doing what they should. My only concern is the thermometer, which is already on yellow.
‘You are approaching the atmosphere pilot.’ Is the last thing I hear from mission control.
PFA News
Committee Members
Office Bearers:
President: Vanessa Cowley
Vice President: George Andrakakos
Treasurer: Sumi Sundram
Secretary: Nadine Phillips
Committee Members:
Shadow Treasurer: Fiona Crellin
Communications: Eva Conley
General Members:
Jason Van Lint, Elle Delmee, Mark Havas, Lisa Jacobson, Wendy Douglas, Janneke Storteboom, Leanne Knight, Kylie Touloupis, Donna Edwards, Katrina Battle
If you would like to be on our email distribution list and receive communication and minutes from our meetings please email parents.friends.secretary@gmail.com
PFA Meeting - Wednesday 14th August - 2:30 pm
There will be a PFA meeting on Wednesday 14th August in the Staffroom. The agenda for the meeting are the events in term 3 and future events in term 4 - with a focus on the Colour Run. Share your ideas, offer support, or if you are just interested in the association, please come along. All are welcome and little kids too!
Cupcake Stall - Wednesday 4th September
The next cupcake stall is on Wednesday 4th September. Please lock it in your diaries! If you are interested in baking some cupcakes, chocolate crackles etc., please email parents.friends.secretary@gmail.com
Remember to say "Parkhill Primary School" when shopping at these stores!
Remember to say “Parkhill Primary School” before you pay at Bakers Delight Ashburton, Chadstone, Oakleigh and Oakleigh Links to have 5% of the sale go towards our school!
The school's 4-digit code is 5565.
Ritchies Community Benefit Card Program
Ritchies' Community Benefit Card Program donates a percentage of the money spent in store to your
nominated school or charity. The Parkhill Community helped us earn over $400 in 2017.
Here’s how it works!
Ask for your free Ritchies Community Benefit Card at your nearest Ritchies supermarket or liquor store.
Enter the name of the community group that you would like to be the recipient of a donation from Ritchies.
Your Ritchies Community Benefit Card will be issued and can be used, immediately!
Rebel Community Kickbacks Program
Under this program, Parkhill Primary School can earn 5% of your purchases at Rebel Sports as an in-store credit to spend on our school sports programs. You can sign up in store.
Parkhill Primary School currently has $380 credit to spend on sporting equipment at Rebel so as you can see it all adds up!
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