Parkhill Primary School Newsletter
Issue 33, Thursday 31 October 2019
Dear Parents/Carers
There are so many things happening around the school. On Monday we had our Validation Day as part of our school review process – thank you to those of you who completed our survey. The School Improvement Team, other Principals, Dan Edwards (School Council president) and Kerry Wood (SEIL), along with the reviewer joined together to unpack our data sets and looked over the successes of the past 4 years. We are at the beginning of the journey where we are developing our next strategic plan. It was a super day of reflection – the next step is to look forward…what’s next at Parkhill! Exciting times ahead.
SRC REPORT:
During Term 3 the SRC finalised the Teacher Raffle with all students enjoying their raffle prize, spending time with teachers doing fun activities. The fundraiser was a huge hit and raised money for our playground space. The end of term free dress day was Footy themed and we raised $205 for the Fight Cancer Foundation. The whole school dressed up and roared their teams anthem at the end of term assembly.
During the term our student council has also been discussing and proposing changes to the playground timetable and gathering student voice on social and emotional learning, future events and changes to the recess times. It is great to have a say in Parkhill’s future.
Beau and Wesley
SRC Presidents
WORKING BEE:
Our first Thursday afternoon working bee was a super success despite the weather. We had families from across the school come and help us to complete all of the jobs we set out to do. We ‘soft falled’ the playground, changed the chook shed roof, swept the decking area, cleared the recycle bin space and did some weeding in the garden. Thank you to Edge church for providing our afternoon tea. For the families who attended house points will be added – 100 each! Well done and thank you.
2020 STRUCTURE:
Thank you to all of the parents who have already come and chatted with us about the structure going into 2020. Some of the questions that have come through the discussion have been well thought through. I have taken the time to summarise some of the discussions. I feel sure others are thinking similar things – and again please do come and meet with us if you would like to talk things through. Most of our discussion have been based around the 5 way split of our Y4 cohort.
Things to keep in mind:
Y4-6 will be relocated to the new building to ensure they are sharing physical spaces.
Camp will remain the same as will 5/6 sport.
Garden will grow to become a whole school program.
Learning in literacy and numeracy will continue as this model will have no impact on these domains.
Units of inquiry will be different for the 4/5 team – however the curriculum standards that we are accountable to will still be covered by the 5/6 team.
Buddies and other cross level activities will remain the same as this year.
Education support across the school will remain similar to this year, as will support and extension programs.
Class sizes will remain balanced across the school and of similar sizes to this year.
We are moving towards a model where we can run 2x straight Y6 classes providing our enrolments continue to support this.
Again I will continue to feed through things that come up in discussion over the coming weeks – should you wish to discuss any of these things with myself or Michelle please do come and see us!
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING:
Throughout the year we have actively been gathering student information about incidents and hot spots on the playground. It was with this data that we restructured our school day in term 2 and again in term 3. The information we receive from our playground reports is well collated and shared termly with staff. The children are asked to tell us where and when things occur so that we can be responsive to their ever changing needs. Coupled with our teacher reporting system and student safety records we are better able to help the children resolve conflict and build resilience. Please also remind yourself of our new Essential Agreement which was launched in term 1 and can be found on the website – link below
OTHER:
Interesting reading:
https://www.mother.ly/parenting/7-signs-youre-an-awesome-parent
Athletics Carnival:
We have our Athletics Carnival coming up on 19th November!! As always we are looking for helpers!! The day relies heavily on parent support for us to be able to manage all of the events – if you are available please drop me an email so I can add you to the list! Many, many thanks!
Please do check out the calendar dates below for the term's events.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Elaine Brady
Principal
Calendar of Curriculum Events
Monday 4 November - School as usual
Tuesday 5 November - Melbourne Cup Day - No School
Wednesday 6 November - 2/3L Excursion Eureka Tower
Thursday 7 November - 2/3M & 2/3G Excursion Eureka Tower
Wednesday 6 - 8 November- Dental Van
Friday 8 November - Color Run
Tuesday 12 November - Choir Spectacular 6 -7 pm (selected students)
Tuesday 19 November - Whole School Athletics Carnival
Wednesday 20 November - Y5 leadership day
Sunday 24 November - Dads & Kids Sports Day 4- 6.30pm
Monday 9 December - Fun, Food & Carols
Tuesday 17 December - Winning House Lunch
Wednesday 18 December - Y6 Graduation
Thursday 19 December - Y6 Big Day Out
Friday 20 December -Term 4 ends at 1.30pm
Student of the Week
F/1C - Jordan M
F/1S - Daniel V
F1T- Ryan B
2/3G - Zoe P
2/3L - Xavier T
2/3M - Cormac Mc
4D - Henry B
40 - Akira H
5/6A - Matthew K
5/6CS - Tom H
5/6H - Anjali R
STEAM Y4
Writing 5/6B
The focus in writing this week has been sentence structure, making sure that phrases are descriptive and are placed in an order that is cohesive. The 5/6s have been working hard to ensure that whether they are writing simple, compound or complex sentences, that each have a clear subject and paint a vivid image in their reader’s mind. Take a look at some writing samples.
The huge swirls of wind, devouring everything in its path. Big, scary and powerful. I’m in the bath looking outside. Small, scared and helpless. What am I to do? The noise of the rails scraping against the shed and the squeaking springs is making it unbearable. I can hardly hear myself think with the ear-piercing sound of the strong wind and intimidating cracks of bolts, angry thunder and blinding lightening.
Ally T
Thunder echoes across the fields as the storm swiftly sweeps across the land, tearing anything up that knocks its destructive path.
Sam T
Wind whirls past me, dirt flies through the sky invading my eyes, making it impossible to see in front of me. Darkness fills the land, while light beams through the other side of the field.
Jennon M
STEAM Y5/6
This term the Y5/6s have been working as entrepreneurs by creating a product to sell at Fun, Food and Carols. Over the last week, the students have gone out to various classes asking questions and collecting data to decide on the product which they will be creating. This was an important step as their product needs to be appealing to the students at Parkhill. Now that they have decided on a product, they are beginning to prepare their pitch for their Shark Tank presentation. To do this, students determined their budget, cost price, expenditure and selling price, marketing their product to the panel of sharks, who will decide on the selling product in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for the for the chosen product!
F/1s Incursion about Toys from the Past
In line with the F/1s inquiry unit about history, students participated in a range of activities that investigated how toys have changed over time. Children discovered that the oldest toys included dolls and spinning tops which dated back about 5,000 years ago. They also found out about how toys have been adapted to make them easier to use. And of course, for the most important part of the investigation, students had plenty of time to play with and explore the varying toys from the past!
Choir Connections
The prompt arrival of students continues to have a positive impact on our rehearsals so thank you to all choir families for making this happen.
Community Day - Notice Forms
Thank you to everyone for returning the Community Day notices, we have a great number of choir students who are excited about participating at the event and we are very excited about showcasing the Parkhill Choir.
Fish Required!
Our choir students have been allocated a very special task to create their own fish for a new performance piece. Please bring your fish to this week’s rehearsal.
As a reminder, think colour, sparkles, glitter. The size is flexible, although nothing as big as a whale shark and nothing so small the audience won't be able to see from the stage.
What does my child/ren wear for the performances?
For both the Choir Spectacular and the Community Day students are requested to wear their summer school uniform, with the NEW school polo.
If this presents a challenge for any family then please email kirsten@careermastery.net.au
Important Dates
Choir Spectacular – Tuesday 12th November 6pm – 7pm (Choir students arrive 5.45pm)
Community Day Batesford Reserve - Sunday 17th November 2pm – 2.35pm
Fun, Food & Carols – 9th December
With, the 9th of December our final performance please note there will be no choir rehearsals on Friday 13th December or Friday 20th December.
If you have any questions please email kirsten@careermastery.net.au
Thanks
Marinda and Kirsten
Canteen News
Classroom Cuisine and Flexischools Canteen will NOT be operating on Monday the 4th of November.
Flexischools will finish operating for the year on the Friday 13 December.
PFA News
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
PARKHILL COLOUR FUN RUN - ONLY 1 WEEK TO GO! Friday 8th November at 2.30pm
Our aim is to reach $12 000! So far, $5 275 has been raised and F/1C is still in the lead for donations!!!! However, F/1T is catching up fast! To start fundraising for your child, sign up here https://www.chuffed.org/project/parkhill-colour-run and share the link with friends and family!!!!!!! The more your child fundraisers, the better choice in their prize of Lego or sports equipment!!! GO PARKHILL!!!!!
WINNING CLASS PRIZE AND INDIVIDUAL PRIZES for the Colour Fun Run
Children will be able to earn a thankyou reward for their fundraising efforts (Get Active and LEGO) and there will be a special surprise reward for all children in the class that raises the greatest amount of money.
Depending on how much is fundraised, your child can choose one awesome prize from that category. After the Colour Fun Run a link will be emailed for your child to choose their prize (subject to availability).
BRING A WHITE T-SHIRT for the Colour Fun Run
On the day of the Colour Fun Run, pack a light coloured or white T shirt into your child’s school bag. This is an extra fun way to show-off the colours from the dye on the day. There will be an early afternoon brain food break, then straight after, the fun run will begin at 2:30 pm. Parents and Guardians are most welcome to come to cheer on their loved one.
FURTHER INFORMATION for the Colour Fun Run
Detailed instructions on how to sign-up to start fundraising and potential prizes are attached below. And don’t forget, for each child in your family a different email address must be used to sign-up. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the office or Vanessa on 0439 356 931.
EMPTY SAUCE BOTTLES NEEDED for the Colour Fun Run
The PFA are looking for empty sauce bottles to use for the Colour Run. These will be used to squirt out coloured dye and corn flour onto the students as they run past. Please hand them into the office.
COLOUR FUN RUN SIGN-UP - 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm
The PFA is looking for volunteers to help out with the running of the Colour Fun Run. Only 6 more volunteers are needed to help set up the course and to coat the kids in coloured dye. Please sign-up! https://signup.com/go/yoUbhuZ
VOLUNTEERS DRINKS - Save the date - Thursday 5th December
Have you baked a cupcake for the stall? Or helped out a Mother’s or Father’s day stall? Or cooked a sausage at the Bunnings BBQ or at school? Well, it is time to celebrate the volunteers with some end of year drinks at the Nottinghill Hotel on Thursday 5th December. An invite will be sent out soon.
CUPCAKE STALL - Wednesday 20th November
The next cupcake stall is on Wednesday 20th November. Please lock it in your diaries! If you are interested in baking some cupcakes, chocolate crackles etc., please email parents.friends.secretary@gmail.com
Parkhill Primary School
Email: Parkhill.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au
Website: www.parkhillps.vic.edu.au
Location: 4A Parkhill Drive, Ashwood VIC 3147, Australia
Phone: 03 9807 2239