26 Grant St, PO Box 199, GOORNONG, VIC, 3557

Tel: 5432 2236 Fax. 5432 2425

Website: www.goornongps.vic.edu.au

Friday April 15th, 2016

Issue 9

Dates to Remember

Next Week

In the lead-up to the cross country event we will be practicing our

long distance running at the Recreation Reserve. We ask that all

students please wear/bring appropriate footwear for running to

school from Mon 18th—Tues 26th April.

Mon 18th April School Council Meeting

Thurs 21st April Ceremony @ Goornong Village Green

Fri 22nd April ANZAC Service at School, 9.00am

Term Two

Mon 25th April ANZAC Day

Tues 26th April School Photos

Wed 27th April Campaspe Cluster Cross Country @

Elmore, Grades Prep—Six

Thurs 28th April Religious Instruction begins

Fri 29th April MARC Library

10th—12th May NAPLAN Testing, Grades Three & Five

Wed 11th May MARC Library

Fri 13th May Campaspe Cluster Winter Sports @

Elmore, Grades Three—Six

Wed 25th May Gym Program Session One

Thurs 26th May Special Persons Day

Fri 27th May MARC Library

Mon 30th May Student-Free Day

Wed 1st June Gym Program Session Two

Wed 8th June Gym Program Session Three

Fri 10th June MARC Library

Mon 13th June Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday

Wed 15th June Gym Program Session Four

Mon 20th June School Council Meeting

Fri 24th June MARC Library

Last day of Term Two, 2.15pm dismissal

2016 Term Dates

Mon 11th Apr. — Fri 24th June Term Two

Mon 11th July — Fri 16th Sept. Term Three

Mon 3rd Oct. — Tues 20th Dec. Term Four

“Learning for the future in a caring rural setting.”

Our school wishes to acknowledge the support of the

Elmore / Lockington / Rochester Community Bank

branches, who provided a grant of $7,500 for our play-

ground project.

We encourage our families to support the bank that has

supported our school!

Weekly Awards P-2: Values Award– Kahlia Literacy– Ruby Maths– Alliera 3-6: Values Award— Brodi Literacy– Matthew Maths– Bree

Awards are presented each Friday at assembly at 3.00pm.

FOTS—Easter Raffle

Our Easter Raffle was drawn on Wednesday 23rd March. The raffle raised $426.25. Congratulations to the following winners:

First prize: Kerry (Sienna (Gr 3) & Alliera (Gr 1)’s Grandma).

3 tickets to the Easter Egg Hunt in Rosalind Park, a garden Bun-ny from Honeybee Metalwork and Design and Easter treats.

Second prize: Cheryl Frost

Australian Easter Book, kids activity pack and lots of Easter goodies

Third prize: Felicity Johnson

Basket full of Easter treats, small garden bunny from Honeybee Metalwork & Design and a kids activity pack.

A big thank you to all families who donated goods to the Easter Raffle and/or sold tickets—your support is greatly appreciated!

Welcome to Term Two of the 2016 school year. I trust that all

students, parents and staff had a safe and enjoyable break

over the Easter period—I hope the Easter Bunny was generous

to you all!

STUDENT LEADERSHIP GROUP—ANZAC DAY CEREMONY

Next Friday 22nd April at 9.00am our Student Leadership

Group will be running a short ANZAC Day Service at the school.

We invite parents and members of our school community to

attend.

Our School Captains, Alex and Ellamay, will also be joining me

at the Goornong Community ANZAC Day Service on Monday

25th April to lay a wreath on behalf of our school community

in memory of all those who have lost their lives at war.

SCHOOL COUNCIL

At our School Council AGM on Monday 21st March office

bearers were elected.

I would like to introduce our school council for 2016:

Tim McCrohan, President

Danielle Donnelly, Vice-President & Community Member

Felicity Johnson, Secretary & Community Member

Ben Matthews, Parent Member

Daneeta Ede, Parent Member

Sara Read, Parent Member

Ian Jackson, Parent Member

Jamie Tuohey, Parent Member

Jeremy Cowan, Parent Member

Jason Cox, Executive Officer

Elaine Wickham, DEECD Member

The next meeting of our School Council is this Monday 18th

April at 7.00pm. Finance Committee will meet at 6.30pm.

CROSS COUNTRY RUN

Each year our school participates in the Campaspe Cluster

Cross Country run. This year’s event will be held at the Elmore

Field Days site on Wednesday 27th April and is for all students

in Years Prep-Six.

As a school, we will be travelling by bus, departing at 11.15am

and returning by 3.15pm.

On the day, students are split into three age groups according

to their age at 31st December this year. Five, six and seven

year olds will run a 1km course; eight, nine and ten year olds a

2km course; and 11 & 12 year olds a 3km course.

The Cluster Cross Country is always an enjoyable afternoon

and we look forward to seeing many parents at the venue to

cheer our students along.

Please find attached to today’s newsletter a permission form

for this excursion, to be completed and returned to the school.

Principal’s Report SCHOOL PHOTOS

School photos will be taken on Tuesday 26th April. Photo order

envelopes accompany today’s newsletter.

Following feedback from parents, we are excited to announce

that this year’s school photos will be provided in digital format,

with the exception of class photos. This gives parents the flexi-

bility to choose the size and quantity of the photos they wish to

print. Parents will receive their ordered photos on a CD, which

can then be taken to a photo print kiosk for printing. Please feel

free to see Tymika if you require clarification of the packages

available on the envelope.

School photo day is always a very special day in our calendar,

with the photos taken on the day providing families with mem-

ories that can be passed on to future generations. In the past,

our families have been very good at ensuring that students

attend school in correct school uniform on photo day. Again,

we ask for the support of parents with this to ensure that our

photos are of the highest quality. In particular, I draw parents

attention to the following points in our uniform policy:

Stud earrings and sleepers worn in the ears, plus watches

are the only acceptable jewellery.

Other than clear nail polish, cosmetics may not be worn at

school.

The wearing of visible under-garments such as colourful

long-sleeve shirts under a short-sleeve shirt or leggings/

tights under shorts, skirts or dresses is not permitted, with

the exception of those in the colours navy blue or maroon.

Extreme hair colours (eg: green, pink or purple rinses) and/

or extreme hairstyles are not permitted.

Shoulder length hair or longer needs to be tied back.

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION

Religious Instruction will begin on Thursday 28th April. Our

school offers two programs for Religious Instruction.—

Catholicism, run by the Catholic Church; and Christianity, run

by Access Ministries.

As was outlined last year, due to changes in the legislation re-

garding Religious Instruction in schools, Religious Instruction

will now be run at lunchtimes on Thursdays. Students who are

enrolled will participate in their lesson between 1.40pm—

2.00pm (eating lunch from 1.30pm—1.40pm and playing from

2.00pm—2.15pm).

Please note that there is a $10 cost per student to cover the

cost of materials for the Access Ministries Christianity Program.

This is a decision of Access Ministries, not Goornong PS. There

is no cost for participation in the Catholic Program.

Please find attached to today’s newsletter Consent Forms for

those wishing to participate in either Religious Instruction Pro-

gram in 2016. If you do not wish for your child to participate in

Religious Instruction you are not required to return a form.

Please feel free to contact me at the school if you have any

further questions.

HIGH FIVE

A high five to Frank and Lynette Dole (Molly

and Tom’s Grandparents), who have donated

a grass clippings catcher to the school. This

will ensure a reduction in the grass clippings

on the oval throughout the winter months after it is

mown, which will mean less clippings in the students’

socks and shoes after playing on the oval. Thanks heaps

Frank and Lynette!

OPENING OF A NEW SIGN

Next Thursday 21st April all students and teachers will be

walking to the Goornong Village Green, opposite the Memorial

Hall, to attend the launch of the Goornong, Barnadown and

Fosterville Heritage Trail. This ceremony is a joint initiative of

the Goornong & District Community Group and the City of

Greater Bendigo. The ceremony begins at 9.45am and is ex-

pected to run for about 45 minutes. Parents and members of

the community are invited to attend.

STUDENT LEARNING JOURNALS

We hope parents and family members have enjoyed looking at

the Student Learning Journals over the school holidays. We

now ask that these be returned to the school so that we can

beginning adding work from Term Two. Thanks.

SCHOOL PICK UP

Thank you to those students and parents who have respected

our wishes regarding school pick-up. A reminder that we ask

that students only exit via the gate near the large green tank

on Grant Street if they are accompanied by their parent, as

there are no school staff on duty at this gate.

Students who are waiting to be collected by their parent, or

who are walking or riding home from school, are asked to wait

at / exit via the main school entrance under the gazebo, where

a member of staff is on duty.

This ensures that all students are supervised and safe until

they are collected by their parent.

PARKING AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL DAY

We ask that parents do not park directly in front of the main

gates on Grant Street when picking their child up at the end of

the school day. Keeping this area free from cars ensures that

children crossing the road have a better view of the oncoming

traffic.

IMMUNISATION CERTIFICATES

A reminder to all families that received a letter last term re-

questing immunisation certificates for students to please re-

turn them to the office asap.

HATS

At the end of Term One hats were sent home so they can be

washed and kept safe ready to bring back to school in Term

Four.

Quote of the Week

"So many of us let others determine what we are

worth. It’s our duty to make that determination our-

selves."

- Jonathan Goldsmith

Jason Cox

Principal

Principal’s Report (continued)

WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECKS

A reminder of our school’s policy regarding Working with

Children Checks.

All school staff such as teachers, relief teachers and support

staff are required to have a Working with Children Check as

part of their employment and our school maintains a register

to ensure that staff WWCCs are up to date.

There are also instances where volunteers such as parent and

community helpers are required to have a WWCC. These

include situations where volunteers have direct contact with

students from our school and where there may not be a

teacher present. As such, we require parents/volunteers

attending camps or excursions to have a WWCC. Please note

that parents helping with morning reading are not required to

have a WWCC.

Key considerations for School Council in establishing our

WWCC policy are to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the

students who attend our school; and to ensure that our

school’s procedures continue to meet the current legislation.

The process to obtain a Working with Children Check is quite

simple and there is no cost to applicants. It involves com-

pleting an online form and then attending an Australia Post

outlet to lodge the form.

We encourage parents who may wish to help out with

excursions (such as the Prep-Two excursion later in the year)

to contact Tymika who will be happy to help with the applica-

tion process. Tymika is able to sit with parents at a school

computer and complete the process.

A copy of our WWCC policy is available on the school website

or from the office on request.

Please feel free to come and see Jason if you have any further

questions.

Grade 3-6 Goornong Footy Tipping

Footy season is back! The Grade 3-6 students (and some staff members) are enjoying

picking their teams each week.

Round 1 results - Congratulations to Sienna, Alex, Ellamay and Mrs Mulqueen on picking

8/9!!!

Round 2 results - This was a difficult week with only 5 points being the average score! Well done to Amelia who

tipped 8/9 winners.

Round 3 results - Amelia and Mrs Mulqueen both achieved fantastic results scoring 8/9 winning games. Mr Cox had

a better round picking 7, perhaps if he stopped picking his beloved Magpies he would move up the leader board

quicker!

Celebrity Tipper of the week: Round 4

Amelia

WCE SYD

CATS PORT

HAWK MELB

SUNS NORTH

DOGS

Garden Science Program

Last year the students created a company called the Goornong Dirt Factory. After writing a business plan, the students

planned and created a food garden. The produce was sold to the school community and funds donated to the new play-

ground project. I submitted this project in the Bendigo Sustainability Awards and we won the "Highly Commended" award

for schools. The school was presented with a framed award certificate by the Bank of Australia at the ceremony. This is cur-

rently sitting at reception. Well done to the students.

Last term, students were selected to be interviewed and filmed for a film clip called "Stories of Change" which documents the

North Central Catchment Authority's River Detective program. Our school has been involved for 2 years recording the water

quality of the Campaspe River. Well done to Esther, Edward and Morgan for being involved with the creation of this vid-

eo. We can't wait to see the final copy.

The garden program has started this Term and the Prep - Two class started by learning about soils and water management in

gardens. After a few soil tests and discussions the class watered the freshly dug over garden beds. The Grade Three—Six

class started by creating a task list and did a great job preparing the vegie beds for watering and planting.

We have fresh rosemary sprigs for sale at the front desk as well as eggs.

Wanted: clean manures (minimal weed seeds) and Lucerne hay (spoilt hay is fine).

Felicity Johnson