RESPECT OPTIMISM COMMIT-

15th of August, 2017

Term 3, Issue 5 A reminder that the school newsletter can always be accessed from our website at www.buninyongps.vic.edu.au

School Assemblies

18th August 5 - 6 Assembly

25th August Whole School Assembly - Family Groups

1st September No Assembly—Grandparents / Special Friends day

8th September P - 4 Assembly

DATES TO REMEMBER

16 Aug Responsible Pet Day - Scotsburn

17 Aug BIG WRITE

18 Aug Lunchtime Live MOTM Workshop (Gr 3 - 6)

23 Aug Gr 6 Solar Boat Challenge

24 Aug COLD WRITE MOTM Workshop (Gr 3 - 6)

25 Aug Book Week DRESS UP DAY (both campuses)

28 Aug Gr 5 BioLab (Group 1)

29 Aug Gr 5 BioLab (Group 2)

30 Aug Fathers Day Stall (Both Campuses)

31 Aug Big Write MOTM Workshop (Gr 3 - 6)

1 Sep Grandparents / Special Friends Day (9-11am) 5/6 Maths Challenge Day

8 Sept Dress in Purple Day (eSmart)

PARENT SURVEYS

A reminder that parent surveys were sent out to a number of families a week or two ago. This year a letter was sent home with the link to the survey website along with an email with the direct link included.

If you received a survey, please take the little time to complete it.

All responses are anonymous and confidential.

For your responses to count, surveys must be submitted by Friday, August 27th.

Book Week is fast approaching and we will be celebrating with a week full of activities between Monday 21

st - 25th August.

Activities include:

Young Author Stories – A chance to hear our Young Authors’ stories like you have never seen before. Screening in Courtyard all week.

Book Shop – A chance to browse through a book collection to purchase for the school library.

A Whole School Story – Every class across the school will have a chance to write a chapter of our whole school book. This will include an opportunity to read the final copy on Friday.

Library Open Sessions: Come and enjoy the Library every lunchtime during the week.

Book Week Dress Up: Book Week wouldn ’t be the same without a Dress Up Day. Come dressed as your favourite book, character or just bring along your favourite book.

Buninyong P.S Book Week Dress Up Day

Friday 25th August

Come dressed as your favourite book, character, author or bring

a book you love.

ICAS Testing

Today saw the end of the ICAS testing season with a large number of students sitting the Maths Test. Over the coming round of assemblies students will be awarded certificates and reports that highlight their efforts.

These reports are just another piece to the puzzle that will help the students, staff and parents understand where student strengths and challenges lie. They also help staff see future learning goals and opportunities.

Thanks to everyone’s support of this learning opportunity.

THE END OF DAY PICK UP (Buninyong Campus)

We’ve had a few near misses in the bus pickup and drop off zone lately. These have involved parents pulling up behind busses, which then reverse to make their way out without seeing cars parked behind them. To keep everyone safe, please don’t park in the bus zone.

We’ve also observed a number of occasions where parents have waited in cars on the other side of the road, expecting their children to cross the road without assistance. This is asking for trouble, as we know that lots of kids in this situation only see their parents, not the dangers in between. So if you are parked on the other side of the road, please come across and collect your children from the school side.

We understand that parking is at a premium at the end of the school day. A number of parents already choose to park a block or 2 back from the school where parking spaces are easily found. This works well if you have children in the upper grades.

WALKING SCHOOL BUS

To help those with children in the lower grades do a similar thing, we’re starting a Walking School Bus from Monday of next week (August 21).

The Walking School Bus will leave from the gate at the roundabout end of the gym at 3:35pm each day, walking the children up to the entrance to the Botanical Gardens. A staff member will accompany the children walking on a given day.

Participation in this Walking School Bus will be on a casual basis, so there is no need to book your child in. On the days you’d like your child to join the Walking School Bus, simply let them know to meet with others using this service at the designated spot straight after school.

Emil Hajilarov

Approaching all tasks with positivity and

always having a smile on his face.

Grade 3/4 ROCCH Award Winners!

Congratulations to the following students from grades 3 and 4 who have been ROCCH(ing) it lately We’re so proud of you! Keep up the great work!

For her kindness to others and staying focused during maths even with lots of noise.

Mikayla Cornish

School Pride Winner: Lucas J

Congratulations to last week’s school pride

winner who was Lucas J from grade 3. Lucas

was a fantastic helper and volunteered to set up

assembly and tidy the gym so that it looked nice

when everyone attended. Great work Lucas!

Bessie C 3BA Ella T 4AC

Oscar W 3BA Harry F 4AC

Connor W 3KA Koby L 4EK

Ashley B 3KA Leila H 4EK

Matt O 3NS Matilda J 4MM

Holly G 3NS Beau W 4MM

Hayden S 3RS Mieke D 4RM

Flynn D 3RS Billy G 4RM

Homework Policy

Thanks to all those who took a few minutes to share their thoughts about the BPS Homework Policy. The Curriculum Team is currently seeking feedback from parents, students and staff to assist in reviewing the current policy.

This feedback will be combined with current research in order to meet the needs of the 21st Century learner and family.

Your feedback has been greatly appreciated.

Buninyong P.S. Communication Strategy

Over the past few months school council has been working on a number of policies which have implications as to how we send communications out and receive communication into the school. Over the coming months we will be finalizing our communication strategy that will need ratifying at School Council. This policy will outline how information travels in and out of the school. The sharp rise in use of technology as a communication tool has identified the need to ensure we provide a safe and informative environment for all students, parents (current and future) and staff.

Part of our process to develop consistent communication practices will require the following to be implemented immediately.

Reporting Student Absence

Communication to and from

teachers

Learning Celebrations

Drop into office, Phone call to office, Compass Attendance note or Email.

Face to face, phone call, Email or Compass

Class Dojo

Please note Class Dojo App is not for communi-cating with staff.

10 Essential Optimism Skills To Teach Your Kids So They Can Achieve

Optimism is not about the glass being half full as is commonly believed. Optimism refers to your belief system about how successful you think your actions are, and how effectively you can impact on the world.

Optimists do better academically, socially and have better health than pessimists so it makes sense to promote the skills of optimistic thinking to children. Optimists look at the flip side of negative events for some good, some hope and some reason to be positive. The basis for optimism is in the way that a person thinks about the causes of events, which is reflected in the way he or she explains events. Recent American research indicates that children learn optimism or pessimism from their experiences of success and through their interactions with parents, teachers and other significant adults. Parents and teachers model optimism and pessimism for children. Adults model an optimistic or pessimistic attitude by the way they react to both adverse and positive events that happen in their lives. Optimistic children may explain adverse events in the following ways:

Adverse events are temporary. ‘It takes time to find a friend’ rather than ‘No one likes me’.

Situations or causes are specific, not global. ‘I am not so good at soccer’ rather than ‘I am hopeless at sport.’

Blame is rationalised rather than personalised ‘I was grounded because I hit my sister’ rather than ‘I was grounded because I am a bad kid.’

Pessimists have a tendency to build mountains out of molehills and give up before trying. The trouble with pessimism is that it tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. “I told you, I wouldn’t get a kick in the game. What was the point of me even turning up?” Such comments just reinforce pessimism and these feelings of hopelessness lead to helplessness.

Adults can help children and young people become optimistic thinkers with the use of modeling and also by directly teaching and drawing kids’ attention to the skills of optimistic thinking.

Attached to the end of this newsletter is the full article from Michael Grose (one of Australia’s leading parenting educators) on the 10 skills that we can use to teach children how to be optimists.

Article source:

https://www.saac.qld.edu.au/sites/default/files/files/Optimism_eBook.pdf

2017 Science Day - Buninyong Campus

It was wonderful to see so many students dressed up for Science Day. The Teachers did a fantastic job of organising hands-on science activities which the students really enjoyed!

Here are some photos from the day…

GRADE 3 CAMP

Last week, the Grade 3’s spent two days at Camp Wyuna in Queenscliff . We had a great time together, learnt new things and had lots of fun. We made wood fire pizzas, rode bikes,

went to the beach and played games and visited the Marine centre!

I liked being in the cabin with my friends, I loved making wood fire pizza and trying bush tucker. Chloe 3NS

I liked going to the Marine Centre and seeing sea creatures and I liked being in the cabin with my friends because it was so, much fun. Summer 3NS

Camp was so fantastic! I actually wish I was still there. We rode bikes, played games on the beach and so many other great things. Hayden 3RS

The best thing about camp was the beach activity. We played Nippers and Crazy Cricket. It was great that we got to spend more time with our friends and Mrs Schomburgk. Casey 3RS

On Monday we arrived at Camp Wyuna. We went bike riding, beach games, pizza making, and the Marine Discovery Centre. We learned that male sea horses give birth to babies. Mila.S 3BA

Camp was fun because I liked making pizza and riding bikes. Walter 3BA

My favourite part of camp was doing red faces. I also liked hanging out in the cabins with my friends. Ayva 3KA.

My favourite part about camp was the bike ride because it’s good for you and lots of fun. We got to ride along the beach and finished at a playground. Bonnie 3KA.

日本語

Nihongo (Japanese) News

Japan Foundation Competitions There are 2 exciting competitions at the moment being run by the Japan Foundation, enabling students to showcase their artistic, ICT and Japanese abilities.

VIDEO MATSURI: Combine your Japanese ability with your

creativity and acting skills to make a 3 minute film. This year’s signature item is a button. What kind of button? That’s up to you! It does not need to be the main theme but must feature somewhere in your film. Aside from the signature item and the use of Japanese language, there are no restrictions on style or theme. You can produce a comedy, a drama, a documentary; you can animate it, you can claymation it – the sky’s the limit!

ART CONTEST: Art Speaks Japanese Comes Alive! is an annual art and language contest for school-level students of

Japanese. Students create their own artwork inspired by the Art Speaks Japanese 日本の美術 Japanese Language Education Kit .

Follow the links below for more details on how to enter. See Mrs Sullivan if you would like assistance.

Japanese Pun of the Week:

SCOTSBURN NEWS ABC Award

Gr P/1 – Leo Shackell Gr 2/3 - Lexie Klein

Term 3 - Lunch Order Roster Lunch orders need to be collected from The Buninyong campus at 12.40pm.

Friday Rotations Our first rotation for the term will be on Friday 11th August. Our groups will be doing the following:

Term 3 - Important Dates & Extra-Curricular Events

16th August - Responsible Pet Day

17th August - Gr 4-6 Cyber Safety Talk (Des Hudson)

23rd

August - Gr 4-6 Solar Boat Challenge 25

th August - Book Week Dress Up Day

30th August - Gr P-6 CBA Financial Literacy Lesson

30th August - Father’s Day Stall

1st September - Grandparents/Special Friends Day

13th September - Celebration of Learning

22nd

September - Term 3 Finishes 9

th October - Term 4 Starts

Parent Surveys

Hopefully you have received via email and in the post, a letter inviting you to complete a Parent Opinion Survey for the Scotsburn campus. Please take the time to fill this in as the results provide us with constructive feedback on how the campus is progressing. If you have any questions relating to the survey, please drop in and see Shaun.

Robotics Fun!

Last week, Miss Riordon organised a set of Dash & Dot robots for the Grade 2/3 class to experiment with. The students had a great time learning about coding and how to provide instructions via the iPad to enable the robots to complete challenges. We would like to thank Haddon PS for their generosity in providing the robots.

Science Science Science

Following on from the robotics last week, our Grade 4-6 class has been down to BioCATS on Monday to participate in science activities related to football. Special thanks to Mick Durham who assisted the class on the day. We have also been very lucky this week to have one of our Mum’s (Rebecca Gray) bring in various Science resources for the students to experiment with. The students had a brilliant time and gained plenty from the great opportunity. Thanks so much Rebecca. All of these activities have been a great lead into our Science Day on Tuesday. It was great to see all of the students dressed in the Science theme and having so much fun.

Ms Read-a-thon

The Scotsburn students have received information regarding the MS Read-a-thon. Please continue to support your children with this throughout the month of August. At our Assembly on Monday, we were very lucky to have Denise who is an MS Ambassador. She spoke to the students about MS and also encouraged them to do what they can to help find a cure by reading as many books as they could for the MS Read-a-thon.

Woolworths Earn & Learn

If you shop at Woolworths, it would be great if you could collect the Earn and Learn stickers and then drop them into the box in the Old Building. At the end of the promotion (September 19

th), we will be able to redeem the

stickers for educational resources.

Spelling Mastery

We are looking for 1 more parent helper on both the Wednesday & Friday. If you are available, please see Shaun ASAP.

DATE PARENT HELPER

17th August Rach Wenzlick

24th August Faith Valent

Date Cooking

(Miss Wood)

Team Building Activities

(Ms Geddes)

Landcare/ Gardening

(Mr O’Loughlin)

18th August Group 3 Kelsey Ford

Group 1 Group 2 Laura Conroy

25th August Group 2 Amber

Coleman

Group 3 Group 1 Jodie Menhenett

1st Sep Group 1 Bec Blackburn

Group 2 Group 3 Belinda Hicks

8th Sep Group 3 Tatiana Wortley

Group 1 Group 2 Damian Shackell

15th Sep Group 2 Natasha Adam

Group 3 Group 1 Rach Wenzlick

Gardening at Scotsburn During the past week or so, we have been very busy transforming our vegetable garden and

playground space. With Scotsburn being a Landcare School, ensuring that the students are aware

of the positive impact that they can have on their environment is extremely important to us. Bill

Coats (Charlie’s Grandpa) has been an enormous help to us with his knowledge of plants and

vegetables. ..thanks Bill. Although still a work in progress, we have fixed up the vegetable garden

beds, spread gravel to neaten it up, planted lots of vegetables to assist with our cooking

program, made and painted vegetable signs and planted a number of trees and shrubs

throughout the school grounds. As you can see, it is all looking great.

Grade 6 Canteen

Can-team

HOT MILO

DAYS

Friday 25th August (week 6)

Friday 8th September (week 8)

$1 per cup at the canteen during

recess.

Parent helpers also welcome. Please contact

Narelle Sullivan : sullivan.narelle.l@edumail.vic.gov.au

WOOLWORTHS EARN & LEARN

If you shop at Woolworths, please remember to ask for your stickers during August & September. You earn one sticker for each $10 spent. Please ask any relatives or friends to save them for you too!

Stickers can be placed on sheets or dropped loose into the collection box in store (Ballarat Central & Sebastopol), or drop off at the school office. We appreciate every sticker as they all add up and make a difference.

Thank you.

FATHER’S DAY STALL – WEDNESDAY 30th

August

This year we are having a Fathers’ Day stall! All students will be offered the opportunity

to purchase one gift for their dad or significant male in their life. All gifts will be $5.

Year levels will be allocated a time to come and do their “shopping” during the morning

of Wednesday 30th August. After all grades have been through, an announcement will

be put over for any students who may wish to purchase a second gift (for a step dad,

grandfather, etc.) to come and purchase another item.

WANTED: Donations of any excess or unwanted wrapping paper

that would be suitable for students to wrap their gifts in. Please

bring to the office.

Parent Helpers needed. Please contact Narelle Sullivan at school.