Principals Desk 14//03/2019

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Principal ~ Mr. Andrew Harrison Ph: 5367 6080

www.pentlandps.vic.edu.au/

Dear Parents, This week we relaunched our Writers Notebook program. We implemented the Writers Notebook initiative 2 years ago with enormous success. As a result of our continued enrolment growth we felt it necessary to promote writers notebook with our community. Mr Lowrey and our staff facilitated a productive writing session and positive launch. Thank you to the parents who attended. We really appreciate your involvement. We have experienced a small number of families contact the school regarding the Momo Challenge. The Momo Challenge has not been evident on any of our school owned devices. We have had families report that there has been some discussion amongst our students regarding Momo. It would be most appreciated if families could find a moment to chat about this with their children. Below is some advice from the Esafety Commissioner.

Statement: eSafety advice on the Momo Challenge Media release |March 01 2019 It is very concerning when young people have been exposed to any content that scares them or plays on their emotions, like those reported via the Momo Challenge. Although it has now been widely reported and exposed as a viral hoax, the Momo Challenge is not the first, nor will it be the last, online “challenge” or phenomenon to target our children with potentially harmful consequences. Our research shows 81% of parents hand their child an internet-connected device by the age of 4, so active parental engagement and oversight of a child’s online activities is critical from the start, to help ensure they are prepared for what they may encounter. As young people often do not have the maturity or judgement to cope with confronting content online, it’s important to guide and instil critical reasoning skills, so they are aware that not everything they see or receive online is real. We encourage parents to co-view, co-play, ask questions about the games and apps they are using, and let them know you are there to support them if they are upset or uncomfortable about anything they see online. Five top tips to help limit your child’s exposure to harmful content online:

Engage in your child’s online activities – ask what apps, sites and games they’re using and make sure they’re age-appropriate

Use parental controls on devices to help limit what your child is exposed to

Let them know not everything they see online is real or true.

Help them report and block upsetting content they see on social media sites or apps. Let them know they can come to you about anything upsetting they see online, and contact Kids Helpline if they need further support. Parents who are concerned their child may be susceptible to self-harm should be aware of the signs to look out for and know where to go for help – see more info here: https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-the-office/newsroom/blog/is-your-child-at-risk-of-self-harm-or-suicide Parents can visit www.esafety.gov.au/iparent for information and advice on keep your child safe online. The Music Bus program is up and running for 2019. Feedback related to this program will be most appreciated. Our next working bee is scheduled for Friday 15th March. We are spreading mulch and would appreciate support from any available families. Term one has being been positive and busy. A number of our staff have been involved in extensive professional learning and have been replaced by other teachers on a variety of days. We appreciate that this may have been unsettling for some students and families. There will be less of this type of disruption during the other school terms. Thanks for your support. It would be most appreciated if families could advise the office of any changes of family details such as change of address or contact numbers. Our office hours are 8.30am – 4.15pm.

Principals Desk...continued

We would like to remind families that terms 1 & 4 are Sunsmart terms and wearing of hats and sunscreen is expected. I would like to remind families that the procedures remain in place in relation to late arrival to school, early dismissal of stu-dents and Parent Helpers and Visitors. The sign in books are located in the office. All visitors and Parent Helpers must sign in at the office. Students arriving late must sign in at the office and collect a late pass. Parents collecting their children early must sign the early dismissal book in the office. Please find a moment to check the list of important dates. We have a wide range of events planned already for this year. We continue to experience a lot of interest for Prep enrolments for 2020. Families are most welcome to complete the enrol-ment process now. This will assist with our planning for 2020 and secure a place in Prep for 2020. The schools within the Bacchus Marsh Cluster and within the South Western Region have agreed to a common enrolment date of the 31st of August 2019. Have a great week Andrew & Sky.

HAVE YOU RETURNED YOUR…?

Teeth On Wheels Forms

Grade 5/6 Camp Expression of Interest Form

CSEF Application Forms (Pension/Health Care Card Holders only)

School House Sports Volunteer Form

GRADE 3/4 NEWS In Grade 3/4 we have kick started the year by focusing on setting short term and long term goals to strive for, building confidence in ourselves and our work, being persistent for when we are finding things hard, and improving our time management and teamwork skills in our You Can Do It program. Developing our abilities in these areas have come in very handy in our current theme topic ‘I am Australian’, as we have been building our knowledge of Australian History, special days we celebrate here and around the world, and also the con-struction of a group project on a famous Australian that we’ll present to our classes at the end of this term. 2/3 M and 3/4DJ have also been lucky enough this term to participate in the Sporting Schools program that has seen us learn, have fun and improve our knowledge and skills in cricket and lacrosse. We can’t wait to put our practise into action and have a match at the end of our coaching sessions! Lastly, a friendly reminder students need to be reading a minimum of 4 nights at home and recording it in their student dia-

ries with a parent signature. All diaries are collected and checked for reading every Monday. Homework will also continue to be a fortnightly rubric to be completed in Homework books. Thank you for your support!

WRITERS NOTEBOOK LAUNCH

PARENT COMMUNICATION

As part of our communication strategy, we will be posting

reminders and copies of notes on our communication platforms. These platforms are Flezi Buzz, See Saw and our website.

Please ensure that you have signed up to all of these platforms to assist us in keeping you fully informed about all the exciting events

happening at Pentland and for reminders of when things are due. For information on how to access FlexiBuzz, please see attached flyer.

For assistance in connecting to SeeSaw, please see your classroom teacher.

Please note that Permission Forms will still only be provided in hard copy and must be signed and returned to school.

Key Dates for Term 1— 2019

Monday 11/03/19 LABOUR DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY

Tuesday 12/03/19 Equine Program (selected students) 8.40am Education Sub-Committee Meeting 3.30pm Finance Sub-Committee Meeting 5pm Buildings and Grounds Sub-Committee Meeting 6pm

Friday 15/03/2019 Teeth on Wheels Working Bee 2.10pm– 4.10pm

Monday 18/03/2019 Assembly 8.40am

Tuesday 19/03/2019 Equine Program (selected students) 8.40am

Wednesday 20/03/2019 School Council AGM & March Meeting—6pm

Thursday 21/03/2019 House Sports—Grades F—2 (Morning)

Friday 22/03/2019 House Sports—Grade 3—6 (Morning), F– 6 (Afternoon)

Monday 25/03/2019 Assembly 8.40am

Tuesday 26/03/2019 Equine Program (selected students) 8.40am

Friday 29/03/2019 School Photos

Tuesday 02/04/2019 Equine Program (selected students) 8.40am

Friday 05/04/2019 Last Day of TERM 1—Final Assembly 2.10pm, Dismissal—2.30pm

Date Event/s

Key Dates for Term 2— 2019

Monday 22/04/2019 EASTER MONDAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY

Tuesday 23/04/19 Term 2 Begins

Thursday 25/04/19 ANZAC DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY

Friday 26/04/2019 Life Education

Monday 29/04/2019 Assembly 8.40am Life Education

Date Event/s

BREAKFAST CLUB

With the generous support of Food Bank Australia and Darley Bakehouse, we are able to offer Breakfast Club for our

students on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Breakfast is served between 8.10-8.35am in Room 8 (Food

Tech) and students are offered a selection of foods including cereal, toast and baked beans.

Everyone is welcome to come along. If you haven't already filled in a permission form, these are

available from Breakfast Club.

Save the date: Working bee! 15th march 2.10pm-4.10pm

eVERYone is welcome to come along to help beautify our wonderful school.

The focus for this working bee will be on mulching an area near the oval, helping to make that area look fantastic for sports day.

Further information will be sent home closer to the date

or contact the office to rsvp.