Newsletter October 30 2009
LESLEY’S REPORT
For this week’s school council meeting we invited James Kelly who is the state co-ordinator for DEETs bushfire response. James was invited so that we could exchange views and concerns about the propose tree removal and vegetation clearance around our admin building. Although nothing as yet has been resolved, James did undertake to follow through with several requests from council. Copies of our concerns will also be sent to some key politicians.
Over the next couple of weeks the department will also notify parents about department policy regarding school closures due to weather conditions relating to possible bushfire risk. The department including our region (EMR) are working actively on developing comprehensive policies and plans for this bushfire season. As soon as these details are finalised we will pass the information on to parents.
Our Healthy Breakfast morning was again very well attended this morning. There were also a significant number of students who walked or rode their bikes to school. A BIG THANK YOU again to Sandy Walter who volunteered her time to organise this. What would we do without her!
At present we are setting up a new website for the school which we hope will be able to provide our school parents with more up to date information, including dates to remember, school news, student contributions and activities. As soon as we have the site up and running we’ll let you know.
This year instead of having our traditional carols concert we will be having an end of year concert. As we were unable to go ahead with our school production earlier in the year we have decided to organise a more comprehensive concert for the end of the year on Thursday December 10th at 7:00pm. We’re planning on holding the concert in the hall next door(Sydney Halbish Hall). Each grade is planning an item, together with some musical items with Kaz Seiger and ‘Yes” a couple of Christmas carols to fit in with the festive season. Should be fun!
Please try and come along to the Working Bee this Sunday at 10:00am. You’ll need tools for tree lopping, pruning, grass cutting and painting ( not all of those from every body!).
NEWS FROM THE CLASSROOM
PREP/ONE
There has been a lot of excitement looking at the progress of our sprouts and seedlings in the classroom. If you get a chance come in and have a look at our murals and sketching which all look great up on the walls. In Maths over the next few weeks we are working on money. At home you can help develop these concepts through sorting coins/ordering by value/exchanging for coins of the same value, using counting patterns to count coins of the same denomination(eg. 5, 10, 15, 20). Remember also that nothing quite helps develop these concepts than handling money in real situations when you’re out shopping etc.
TWO/THREE
Our excursion to the Healesville Sanctuary with the grade 4/5/6’s has been the highlight of this fortnight. Despite the terrible weather, we all enjoyed touring the Sanctuary in our small groups, getting ‘hands on’ at the reptile keepers presentation, watching the amazing ‘Birds of Prey’ show and learning all about ‘Habitats’ in our classroom session. I was very proud of the behaviour of our students and the impressive depth of knowledge they showed the Sanctuary teacher during the classroom question & answer discussion. Here are some shared writing responses to the excursion:
Birds of Prey
We went to see the Birds of Prey. We had to stand in the rain. We saw Falcons, Wedged-Tailed Eagle, the Brown Kite and the Black Buzzard. The Black Buzzard grabbed a stone and broke the pretend Emu egg.
By Billy and Jacob O
Tasmanian Devils
When we went to the Tasmanian Devil display, we saw the mother at the back of the enclosure. Then the mother came running to find her babies and feed them. It was fascinating. It was very cool. The babies were digging around and we could see it on the video camera.
By Imogen & Jacob T
Wildlife Hospital
A Tawny Frogmouth was being examined at the Wildlife Hospital. There were interactive computers and you could do activities on them. There were gadgets that you could test your body on. There were displays like fake food and nest boxes. There were scat (poo) and urine (wee) samples.
By Jarrah and Jenny.
Stars of the last 2 weeks: Jarrah, Daylan & Billy
FOUR/FIVE/SIX
This term the Grade 4/5/6 Integrated Studies Unit is on Indigenous Culture. The focus will be on introducing students to aboriginal history and will explore some of the ways indigenous people related to the land.
While we were on Urban Camp we visited the Ian Potter Centre at Fed Square and learnt about Indigenous Art. Brian, our guide, explained Dot Painting to us. Dot Painting is only done by aboriginal groups around Alice Springs and the Western Desert.
When we had a lesson at the Healesville Sanctuary, Liz told us about some of the ways that aboriginal people looked after the land. Every person had a Dreaming animal that they had to take care of so that it didn’t become endangered or extinct.
Next Thursday Aunty Dot Peters, a Wurundjeri elder is coming to visit us, to tell us about the way the Koori people lived. We will have the opportunity to ask her lots of questions.
We have watched some Dreamtime stories. They are really interesting and explain the origins of animals and the land and teach about values such as respect, looking after others, truthfulness and honesty.
VOLUNTEER WANTED URGENTLY.
The school is in urgent need of a volunteer (or two if you would like to share) to co-ordinate the Scholastic Book Club. Having a volunteer do this will mean our education support staff currently doing this will be available to provide more valuable aide and support in the classrooms for students. The job is quite simple and entails the distributions of scholastic brochures, (which are delivered to school) placing subsequent orders, counting money and distributing books when they arrive back at school. All training and help will be given by a staff member.
If you can help we will be eternally thankful. PLEASE see Teresa in the office.
OUR FARM
Spots are filling up but we still need some volunteers to fill our farm roster for the weekends. Thanks you to all those who have volunteered.
|
Weekend Beginning |
|
|
10/10/09 |
Jackson |
|
17/10/09 |
Emma |
|
24/10/09 |
Imogen and Seth |
|
31/10/09 |
Jennifer |
|
7/11/09 |
Luca |
|
14/11/09 |
|
|
21/11/09 |
|
|
28/11/09 |
Lenny and Adam |
|
5/12/09 |
Tahlia |
|
12/12/09 |
|
|
Holidays |
|
|
· Chickens · Rabbits · Guinea pigs |
Matilda
Jai |
ASTHMA MANAGEMENT PLANS
If your child has asthma we need to have an asthma management plan completed by parents (in consultation with their GP) that we can refer to if necessary. Occasionally asthma can be a life threatening condition and even in less serious circumstances we need to be kept fully informed at school so that we can continue to meet our duty of care. If your child does have asthma and you have not filled in a management plan/unsure if we have a plan/the plan needs updating, please see us at the office so we can facilitate this.
CONTACT DETAILS
Recently there have been a few occasions where we have needed to contact parents but we haven’t had up to date contact details (phone numbers, addresses etc). As a matter of safety and due care we need to be able to reach parents if there’s an emergency or a particular need. If your contact details change at all can you make sure that you keep us informed, this includes providing temporary contact details if necessary.
WORKING BEE
The next scheduled working bee will be Sunday 25th October. Please mark this date on your calendars.
