Issue 10 – 19th April 2018

Tuesday 24th April WPS Cross CountryWednesday 25th April ANZAC DayFriday 27th April Year 5 & 6 Interschool SportFriday 27th April Scholastic Book Club Orders DueMonday 30th April Curriculum Day – no school for students Wednesday 2nd May Breakfast ClubFriday 4th May Year 5 & 6 Interschool SportTuesday 8th May Bridge Inn Cross CountryTuesday 8th May Foundation Excursion to ScienceworksWednesday 9th May Breakfast ClubFriday 11th May State School Spectacular Mass Dance RehearsalFriday 11th May Year 5/6 Interschool SportsMonday 14th May Pre Foundation CommencesWednesday 16th May Breakfast Club

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Hello everyone,

Welcome back to another exciting term at Whittlesea Primary School. Over the holiday period a number of school improvements took place. Firstly, a new shade shelter has been erected in the open space near the staff car park. Paving and rubber surfacing will be completed in the coming days to complete the project ready for community use. This shelter will be utilised by both students and parents as a central hub to the eight classrooms at the southern end of the school. This shade shelter was made possible partially through a government shade shelter grant, with significant funds also coming from our amazing 2017 fundraising efforts. In addition to the shelter, new line marking was completed as well as new data cabling, tree removal and the installation of air conditioning to four classroom spaces. This air conditioning will supplement the climate control measures already incorporated into the design of the early years centre. The air conditioning will be of greatest importance on hot summer days to improve student and staff comfort.

This week I met with two representatives from VicRoads for a briefing on the upcoming roadworks scheduled for completion outside our school. The project involves the establishment of a new intersection between Plenty, Wallan, Laurel and Macmeikan Roads. The design allows for safer and more effective flow of traffic and pedestrians through an area that hundreds of students and parents travel each day. It is definitely overdue, but a welcome project from our school’s perspective. I will be provided with updates on a regular basis, which I will make available through this newsletter and other online tools such as Facebook. VicRoads have also requested the opportunity to host a community information session at Whittlesea Primary School late next month. When this is scheduled officially, I will make the details public as soon as possible.

On Tuesday, we distributed a notice regarding this year’s ANZAC Day march in Whittlesea township. It has become tradition that our students take part in this significant community event, honouring the brave men and woman who have represented Australia’s armed forces. We are trialling the use of Compass to collate digital permissions for those intending on attending. Please refer to the email sent to all school families for a direct link to the permission page on Compass. If you are experiencing difficulties give the office a call on 9716 2140. Hopefully, we can get together another large group of proud Whittlesea Primary Students for next week’s march.

Until next week,

Ty HogginsPrincipal

ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS REPORT

Hello everyone,

Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed Easter with your families. It was great to see all of the children back on Monday morning, especially hearing about all of the fun times and exciting experiences many of you had over the break.

Every Wednesday after school this term, our staff will engage in a range of professional learning forums. This term, the foci will include; literacy moderation and assessment, reporting, SWPBS, Respectful Relationships and First Aid/CPR refreshers. Additional to this, on Monday 30th April, Michael Ymer, a specialist Mathematics consultant from Melbourne, will run a professional learning day for staff with a focus on making maths meaningful. Michael has led many professional development programs in schools across Australia and Asia. He is an enthusiastic and entertaining presenter who has a clear and practical approach to getting the best out of students when teaching Mathematics.

This term our teachers will complete two reporting cycles for all students across F-6, the progress report and the semester 1 report. The progress report is a reflection of our school expectations and the personal and social capabilities from the Victorian Curriculum. The progress report will be published and available on Compass on Thursday 3 rd May. If you have not logged into Compass and you would like your login details, please contact the office. If you cannot access Compass via a smart phone/tablet or PC, please contact the office to arrange for a printed copy. Semester one reports will be available to all families, again, via Compass at the end of term two.

On behalf of Megan Smithwick, Community Development Officer for the Whittlesea Township, I would like to invite you to attend the Whittlesea Township Local Volunteer Expo. The Expo, hosted by Yarra Plenty Regional Library, Whittlesea Community House, Whittlesea Community Connections and City of Whittlesea, will show case volunteer roles available in the Whittlesea Township.  You will be able to speak to local volunteers, ask questions and find a volunteer role within our community that suits your interests.   The expo will take place on Friday 25th May between 1:00pm and 4:00pm in Church Street. There will also be a FREE sausage sizzle throughout the afternoon.

Next Tuesday all year 3-6 students will participate in our school cross-country event at Walker Reserve in Whittlesea. All students are encouraged to come dressed in their house colours on the day. We would also like to see all of the students in years F-2 wearing house colours to school. Over the coming days teachers will remind all students about their house colour. You can view your child’s house colour through Compass. Throughout the day on Tuesday, the F-2 students will participate in team building activities and short running events to encourage teamwork, mateship, doing your best and helping others succeed.

In closing, a reminder that Monday 30th April is a Curriculum Day. As this is a STUDENT FREE day, Big Childcare will operate between the hours of 7:00am and 6:30pm. If you would like more information regarding care on this day, please contact Sonny at whittlesea@bigchildcare.com or on 0426 768 971.

Best wishes for a wonderful weekend with your family

Rae GittosAssistant Principal

SWIMMING REPORT

Yesterday Olivia Sorensen competed at the Victorian State School swimming championships. Olivia came away with fantastic results. 

1st in 11yr Girls MC Freestyle1st in 11yr Girls MC Backstroke

1st in 11yr Girls MC Breaststroke

Congratulations Olivia!HOUSE SPORTS

Next Tuesday, 24th April our F-2 students are encouraged to come to school in their house colours to support the Year 3-6 students with their cross-country event.

During the day, F-2 students will be involved in some team building activities representing their House. We’d like students to come along dressed in their school colours instead of their school uniform. Students have completed an activity with their house colour today, please look for this in their school bag. Families can also look up which house their child is in using COMPASS.

TERM 2 CLUBS

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday FridayBefore School

Breakfast ClubPeter(Gym)

Break 1

ICT Club Ms Caruso(Library)

ICT Club Ms Caruso(Library)

ICT Club Ms Caruso(Library)

ICT Club Ms Caruso(Library)

ICT Club Ms Caruso(Library)

Wood Craft Peter/ Mr Maxfield(Intervention Room)

Sports ClubMr Leslie (Gym)

Drawing ClubPeter(Library)

Netball ClubMr Maxfield and Miss Perry(Gym)

Break 2

Knitting ClubMrs Gittos(Music room)

Crossover ClubMr Hough(Gym)

Board Games ClubMr Gordon(Library)

Lego ClubMrs Kaur(Library)Everyone welcome

Chill Out ClubMiss Betty(2T Classroom)

Downball ClubMr Dunstone(Basketball Courts)

Music ClubMr Wright(Music Room)

Downball ClubMr Dunstone(Basketball Courts)

TERM 2 FUNDRAISER

Star of the Week

Foundation BBell

Awarded to: Callum ParkerFor: helping others succeed in the classroom

Foundation PPerry

Awarded to: Indiana HalleyFor: doing her best learning all week

Foundation SStarkey

Awarded to: Linkin TaylorFor: having an amazing week of learning

Year 1CCapito

Awarded to: Ethan HortonFor: helping others succeed during reading groups

Year 1FFawcett

Awarded to: Zach CroucampFor: demonstrating doing his best by improving in his letter sounds. Well done Zach!

Year 1MMcCormick

Awarded to: Charlee MorleyFor: an engaging recount about making wombat stew! Well done Charlee!

Year 1PPowell

Awarded to: Zoe Brown Stark For: achieving her reading goal of re-reading and self-correcting

Year 2TR Reid/Betty

Awarded to: Declan Brown StarkFor: doing your best during independent reading sessions. Well done! I’m glad you are enjoying the Treehouse series

Year 2CCook

Awarded to: All of 2CFor: having an awesome start to the year!

Year 2LLayton

Awarded to: Hayden RocheFor: writing a detailed narrative. Well done!

Year 3A Awarded to: Clancy Bowlen

Walsh For: always being a responsible and reliable member of 3AYear 3J Walsh

Awarded to: Cooper FalkinghamFor: displaying curiosity in Inquiry. Well done Cooper!

Year 3O Overton

Awarded to: Madelyn GittosFor: taking pride in her work when writing a fantastic persuasive text

Year 4KKaur

Awarded to: Lachlan PanipucciFor: doing his best during mathematics lessons. Well done Lachlan!

Year 4LLeslie

Awarded to: Chelsea MilnerFor: doing her best in maths by trying new learning with a positive attitude!

Year 4VVitale

Awarded to: Troy SchmidtFor: having a positive start at WPS and respecting our School

Year 5DY Dunstone/Yeo

Awarded to: Caitlin HamiltonFor: writing an outstanding narrative filled with action verbs and imagery

Year 5PPanahinejad

Awarded to: Amelia KingFor: using lots of dialogue in her writing

Year 6MMaxfield

Awarded to: Georgie SmythFor: creating a great “black out” poem during writing

Year 6SGoetzke

Awarded to: Annie EdwardsFor: displaying persistence and a great attitude towards her maths learning

SCHOOL CHAPLAIN REPORT

Make a ScheduleRecently I have come across good thoughts from a clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson who has begun to attract a lot of attention around the world suggesting how to live life well. I thought I might make it a series of articles unpacking one suggestion at a time. I’ll start with the value of making a schedule.

I personally do this at the start of a term break so that I am able to stay on task and get more things ‘ticked off’. Peterson is suggesting that we have a daily schedule but to be flexible about how to follow it. If we do this we have a much greater chance of having the day we want, “to be in good shape at the end of the day.” This is also good for children after school who have a list of things to get done before they are allowed to play video games. Even if less is accomplished, we would still be more ahead than if we just took on random tasks to stay busy.

When we slow down we can regroup and when we finish a task we can efficiently move on to the next one that we might have otherwise forgotten about. Our plans can help achieve our vision. Sitting down to think about the day before doing anything else is important work. It makes for a relaxing evening. “Knowing the best time to get the right things done is key.” The schedule lights the way.

Peter Ackland – School Chaplain

SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB

Issue 3 of this year’s book club has gone home with students today. Please return your orders by next Friday 27th April or you can order via the online loop system - https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au

WPS receives 20% commission in reward points on all orders that are received from our students. These rewards are used to buy library books and literacy resources for all of our students. Your support in ordering from Scholastic is greatly appreciated.

2018 BOOKLIST FEES, EXCURSION LEVY & CSEF

The Booklist Levy this year is $230 and the first instalment of $55.00 was due on 28th February followed by payments due on 27th April, 29th June and 31st August.

The excursion/incursion levy for 2018 is $80.00 per student. This levy can be paid in full or by two instalments of $40 each. The first instalment of $40 was due on 28th February 2018 and the second is due by 29th June 2018.

Please note that families who hold a current health care / pension card may be entitled to claim the Camp Sport & Excursion Fund (CSEF) payment, forms are available at the school office. If you applied and received the CSEF payment in 2017 you do not need to reapply this year, it will be automatically done for you.

COMMUNITY

NEWS

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Whittlesea 2040

Whittlesea 2040 is an exciting project at the City of Whittlesea to develop the long-term vision for the municipality. Over ten months, Councillors and community have an opportunity to discuss future trends for life at 2040 and to identify their aspirations for the municipality.

If you live, work, study or visit the City of Whittlesea, Council would love to hear from you!

Having your say is easy! By having your say, you will automatically go into the draw to win a range of awesome prizes!

Click the link to fill out the survey: www.whittlesea.vic.gov.au/whittlesea2040  

Please fill it out and share with your friends, family, and networks!

There are also other ways you can get involved. These include:

By completing a postcard with the survey questions Kids can provide input via drawing pads By participating at a planned event or meeting To organise your own community group meeting where Whittlesea 2040 consultation is

undertaken. Council has incentives available for this so please let them know if you're interested in this.

If you would like your community group or organisation to participate or to get access to any resources, please contact Kirsten on W2040@whittlesea.vic.gov.au or (03) 9217 8893.