Friday 21st April 2017

News from the Principal Welcome Back Welcome back to school everyone. I hope that everyone had an enjoyable break from school and a Happy Easter. Welcome Miss Macaulay This term we welcome Miss Macaulay to our teaching and learning team as classroom teacher for 3/4E. Miss Macaulay (or “Miss M”) has not long returned from teaching in London where she worked at Lordship Lane Primary School in north London. Miss M and the 3/4E children are off to a great start together.

School Closed on Monday & Tuesday The school will be closed on Monday 24th April for a Curriculum Day and also on Tuesday 25th April for the ANZAC Day public holiday.

Important Dates for Term 2 Monday 24th April School Closed for a Curriculum Day Tuesday 25th April School Closed for ANZAC Day Public Holiday Tuesday 9th – Thursday 11th May NAPLAN Testing for Year 3 and 5 Wednesday 17th May School Photographs Monday 12th June Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday Attendance Last term’s whole-school attendance average was 93.1% with our best week being Week 9 with 96.2%. I am still keen to see our termly average grow closer to 95%. Poor patterns of attendance place students at risk of not achieving their educational, social and psychological potential, and are disadvantaged in the quality of choices they are able to make in later life.

Road Safety and Car Parking Late last term, School Council President Knowles Tivendale and I met with Lucas Sikiotis and Martin Haldin from the City of Greater Dandenong to discuss traffic flow around the school. What is clear from our meeting is that the challenge of traffic flow is an issue faced by many school communities given today’s society’s greater use of road transport compared to not so long ago. Many members of our school community choose to park in the Dandenong Plaza car park near to the RSL before walking the remaining distance across the supervised crossing on Foster Street. Providing we are crossing the streets safely, I encourage anyone to ‘park and walk’ as a way of reducing congestion around the school. This is likely to be the most effective and timely way of reducing traffic congestion and it is a strategy that is within our power to implement now. Curriculum Day: Excellence in Learning & Teaching On Monday we will be using one of four curriculum days for this year on building our excellence in learning and teaching. All staff will be spending part of the day learning about a teaching of reading strategy known as Word Work. This is a strategy that provides for students to experiment with spelling patterns, memorise high-frequency words, and develop a genuine curiosity and interest in new and unique words. By playing with words, word pattens, word families, prefixes, suffixes, and so on, students hone their knowledge of words and increase their writing skills. Our Prep to 2 team will then spend some time focussing on building our expertise on phonic instruction as part of the school’s junior reading program. Our Year 3 to 6 team will spend part of the day building our expertise in teaching mathematic reasoning. The above work supports the school’s 2017 Annual Implementation Plan focus on building

practice excellence in our learning and teaching. ANZAC DAY Anzac Day, 25 April, is one of Australia’s most important national occasions. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. When war broke out in 1914 Australia had been a federated nation for only 13 years, and its government was eager to establish a reputation among the nations of the world. When Britain declared war in August 1914 Australia was automatically placed on the side of the Commonwealth. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in order to open the Dardanelles to the allied navies. The ultimate objective was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany.

The Australian and New Zealand forces landed on Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated from the peninsula, with both sides having suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. More than 8,000 Australian soldiers had died in the campaign. Gallipoli had a profound impact on Australians at home, and 25 April soon became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who died in the war.

Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the actions of Australian and New Zealand forces during the campaign left a powerful legacy. What became known as the “Anzac legend” became an important part of the identity of both nations, shaping the ways in which they viewed both their past and their future.

Source: https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac-tradition/ Lest We Forget.

NAPLAN Testing On May 9, 10 and 11 children in Year 3 and Year 5 across Australia will be taking part in the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy. Mrs Pereira Wallarano Primary School Internship For the first three weeks of this term, Mrs Pereira is taking part in an principal preparation ‘internship’ at Wallarano Primary School in Noble Park. Welcome Miss Azra This term we welcome Miss Azra to the school. Miss Azra is a 3rd-year pre-service teacher from Swinburne University. Miss Azra is working with Miss Wescombe and the children in 3/4B.

Life Ed Van Later next month we will have a visit from the Life Ed Van. Life Education provides a unique learning experience for children instilling in them the skills needed to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing, covering topics including safety, nutrition, decision making, medicines, body knowledge and cybersafety. More information about the Life Ed Van can be found at https://www.lifeeducation.org.au/ School Photos Our school photo day is booked in for Wednesday 17th May. Families should receive a notice shortly with details about how to order. Harmony Day Concert We finished off last term with a fantastic Harmony Day concert, celebrating the idea that in our community everyone belongs.

Thank you very much to the parents and friends who were able to come along and help us celebrate together. Thank you also to the members of staff who worked to put together a wonderful celebration. And, of course, thank you to the amazing children who kept us entertained and helped us learn about the many cultures we have together in our school community. Check out some of our Harmony Day photos in the newsletter and on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dandenongprimaryschool Daniel Riley Principal

News from Donna & Denece Parent Contributions – Materials & Requisites Our parent contributions are used to fund items that parents are expected to pay for.

The School Council has set our Parent Contribution for 2017 at $85 per prep child, $100 per child from grade one to grade four and $130 for grade five and six. This amount includes the cost of your child’s books, paper, etc. and the Life Education Van.

If you are paying in part payments, the second payment was due on the18th April 2017 and the final is due by the 30 June 2017. If you are struggling to make payments, Payment plans are available, just contact us in office. CSEF (Camps, Sports & Excursion Fund) CSEF is available to eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities. If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid directly to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

The annual CSEF amount per student is: $125 for primary school students

If you have not already applied, please contact the school office or download form from the Department of Education and Training, CSEF website.

Harmony Day Concert 31st March 2017