The newsletter of Preston Primary School, 19 April , 2017

Website: www.preston-ps.vic.edu.au

Diary Dates and upcoming events ....

Term 2

April

NO CHESS THIS WEEK

Fri 21 – Junior School Council Meeting (8.30 am, Miss Stephens’ room)

Fri 21 – Uniform Shop open – 9.00 am

Tue 25 – ANZAC Day – public holiday –

NO CHILDREN AT SCHOOL

Fri 28 – Captains’ Meeting

(8.30 am, Miss Stephens’ room) Fri 28 – Uniform Shop open – 9.00 am

May

Mon 1 – Gr 2 Craftpower Inc (2AA, 2AB) (note coming home this week)

Tue 2 – Prep Melbourne Zoo ($30) Tue 2 – Gr 2 Craftpower Inc (2AC, 2AD, 2AE)

(note coming home this week) Tue 23 – Gr 2 Little Devils Inc

(note coming home this week)

From the Principal…. I hope everyone had a lovely break and spent time relaxing and catching up with family and friends. It never ceases to amaze me that

at the end of each term the children are so eager for the holidays to start however, they are just as eager on the first day of term to

be back at school. While the holidays are always an enjoyable time, the children do miss their friends.

ASSESSMENT FOLDERS

Today students received their 2017 Assessment Portfolio. The portfolio contains tasks the students completed in Term 1. It includes

a Reading, Writing, Handwriting, Maths and Humanities/History task. The tasks are applicable to each individual student’s level and

have been assessed against criteria appropriate to that level. We ask that parents view the assessment folder with their child and

discuss the contents. We have included some statements on the parent feedback sheet that parents can use as a prompt to elicit

informative discussion with their child. We ask that parents provide feedback on their child’s portfolio on the sheet provided.

There are no tasks from specialist teachers this term however they will be included at the end of each semester.

The assessment folder is a cumulative folder and as such needs to be returned to your child’s teacher to enable them to include

the following term’s assessments. We need all of the folders to be returned by Friday May 5th.

PARENT CLUB

On the last day of term, the Parent Club held their AGM. The first task at an AGM is to declare all of the office bearer positions

vacant and elect new office bearers. We had 12 parents who attended the meeting however, we were unable to fill the President

and Secretary positions.

In 2015, we had a group of interested parents who canvased the school community to ascertain the level of support in establishing a

DET approved Parent Club. They received considerable interest from parents so they went through the process of gaining approval

from the Education Minister to form the Parent Club. One of the DET requirements of having an approved Parent Club is that it

must have office bearers. If we are unable to get two parents to agree to take on the President and Secretary roles the group will no

longer meet the DET requirements. If you are interested in taking on either role, please contact me. It would be a shame if the

group could not continue.

STAFFING

We currently have three staff members on Long Service Leave: Joe Greige, who is being replaced by Lauren Gervais, Debbie

Galtry who is being replaced by Karen Jones and Carol Watson who is being replaced by Lyn Thompson.

Yesterday was the last day for Louise McNaughton who has left us to have her first baby. We welcome Tara Murphy who has

replaced Louise. On behalf of the School community I wish Louise and her partner Kleat all the very best as they embark on one of

the most exciting and challenging times of their lives.

Preston Primary School 240 Tyler Street Preston 3072 Ph : 9470 1167

email address : preston.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

Wednesday Weekly

NAPLAN TESTING

In Week 4 of the term (May 9th-11th) the Grade 3 and 5 students will do the NAPLAN (National Assessment Program

Literacy and Numeracy) assessment. NAPLAN is an assessment program that is administered to all Years 3, 5, 7 and 9

students throughout Australia. NAPLAN has four dimensions - Writing Conventions, which is Punctuation & Grammar and

Spelling, Reading, Writing and Mathematics. When the testing is completed it will be sent away to be centrally marked. For

parents who want further information relating to NAPLAN you may find the answers to any queries on the VCCA website,

http://www.naplan.edu.au.

There is often a great deal reported by the media regarding NAPLAN. If you have a child in Grade 3 or 5 please remember

NAPLAN is a snapshot of your child’s progress and should be treated as such. We do not recommend that parents purchase

practice books. It is important that there is not too much pressure put on the students as they can become anxious about the

process and they will not perform to their best ability. We will be administering a couple of practice tests to the students at school

to familiarise them with the testing regime.

SPORT

The finals for the summer season of interschool sport were held on the last day of term. We had several teams that made it through

to the final including the Cricket A and B teams who had to play against each other, the A team won both games. The girls T-Ball

team played against Reservoir West and won their game. The boys Bat Tennis team played against Preston West and were runners-

up. Our rounders team will play this Friday against Preston North East. Congratulations to all of the teams on their great

performance throughout the season.

During Term 2, Grade 5 and 6 students will be involved in the winter season of inter-school sport. Our local district plays football,

boys and girls soccer and netball. This Friday we will be holding tryouts and choosing the squads. The children are able to choose

which sport they will try out for. The winter sport competition will begin next Friday April 21st. Parents are always welcome to

attend the games to support their children. The fixture will be included in next week’s newsletter.

SUB-COMMITTEE School Council has formed a sub-committee to review three of our current policies: Homework, Uniform and Digital Technologies.

One of our parent reps, Kate Henderson is going to convene the sub-committee. The first policy they are going to review is the

Homework Policy. The group are holding their first meeting on Thursday May 4th at 4.00 pm at the Junior School (in the main

building.) If you would be interested in being part of the sub-committee, please contact Kate Henderson at k8hendo@me.com or

me at paterson.janet.m@edumail.vic.gov.au. Regards,

Janet Paterson,

Principal.

Winter Pinafores and Skirts …..

Our first order of pinafores has been completed and we are awaiting delivery.

If you missed the first round and would like to get a pinafore, our second order is now open.

Orders will close on Friday 05 May and this will be the last chance to order pinafores for 2017.

Please note the pinafores are not held in stock in the Uniform Shop – they are only available by

orders during the specified order time.

The School orders the pinafores in bulk based on the orders received from parents.

Now available to order through the Uniform Shop and on Qkr.

Samples are available to view. Winter Pinafore 4-10 : $46.00

Winter Skirt 12-14 : $47.00

Winter Skirt Ladies sizes 10-14 : $50.00

Orders can be made via Qkr, at the Uniform Shop or can be left with correct payment at the Senior School Office.

Please take the opportunity to check the sizes with the Uniform Shop –

Pinafores are not a normal stock item and we cannot offer a refund.

Last day for orders: Friday 05 May 2017

Before and After School Care Program – Permanent and Casual Bookings / Cancellations –

Telephone / SMS - 0407 351 708

Grade 1 Report ....

This term the Grade 1 students are focussing on a ‘Mixing and Changing’ topic for Science.

The students are excited about finding out how different foods can be transformed from solids to liquids or what will

happen to the texture of different foods when they are cooked.

This week the Grade 1 students will observe an experiment on how a ‘mystery item’ will change from a solid to a

liquid!!

Grade 3 Report ....

Grade 3 goes to the Shrine!

On Tuesday Grade 3 students went to the Shrine of Remembrance in preparation for ANZAC Day. The weather was

absolutely perfect and all the students were very excited to see the Shrine, some for the first time. On arrival we

walked around the beautiful gardens and ate our morning tea. We saw the Army men marching, visited the eternal

flame and saw a statue of Simpson and his Donkey. When we walked inside the Shrine the students were lucky enough

to have a guided tour that took them around all the amazing exhibits, particularly the Stone of Remembrance. To finish

off an amazing day students were allowed up to the Shrine’s balcony and see the amazing views.

Grade 3 absolutely loved their excursion to the Shrine of Remembrance and can’t wait to commemorate ANZAC Day

next week.

Before and After School Care Program – Permanent and Casual Bookings / Cancellations –

Telephone / SMS - 0407 351 708

Grade 4 Report ....

To finish off Term 1, the Grade 4 students attended an incursion titled ‘Aborigine for a Day’ as part of the History unit ‘First

Contact.’ The day started with a welcome ceremony where the students met the Indigenous Australian instructors: Big Al,

Pancakes and Leonie. After having a cultural design painted on their faces, the students then had the opportunity to enjoy the

various activities offered throughout the day including, aboriginal dance, storytelling, cultural history and aboriginal art. During the

art activity, the students learnt how to draw different symbols and created a story using the symbols. At the end of the day, there

was a corroboree and the students demonstrated the dances they learnt during the day.

It was a fun day, I really enjoyed listening to the didgeridoo – Xavier

I really liked listening and dancing to the didgeridoo – Aiya

The stories that Big Al told were amazing and I could picture them in my mind – Andre

Some of the dances that Pancakes taught us were interesting, such as the eagle and the emu - Jonas

News from the Music Department ....

Welcome back from the Music Department and hope you all had a great break and Easter!

Towards the end of last term each grade level started to learn a song that they can play on

the xylophone or the keyboard. As students’ progress through each grade level the song

they learn is an extension from the previous, either in relation to playing more notes, playing

different notes or even adding the bass note into the song.

The Grade Preps and Ones are learning Mary Had a Little Lamb and Old Macdonald Had a

Farm respectively. They are a great way to introduce the concept of letters that represent

music notes and are songs that only use a few different notes. The Grade Two classes are

introducing the use of the “sharp” note through The Simpsons TV theme song. Grade Three

are looking at expanding their knowledge by reading more formal music along with music

symbols such as ‘repeat’ and attempting to add in the bass line (left hand on the keyboard)

for the Star Wars Theme song.

All these songs go toward their portfolio tasks.

The school band made a great start last term and will be looking to build up their list of

songs. Towards the end of this term the band will be participating in the annual School of

Rock day organised within the Northern Region. More information will follow once we get

confirmation of the date.

A reminder that Band rehearsals will be every Thursday afternoon at 2:40pm in the PAC.

Til next time ..

Rock on!

Jason & Ben

Before and After School Care Program – Permanent and Casual Bookings / Cancellations –

Telephone / SMS - 0407 351 708

CHESS Timetable – THERE IS NO CHESS THIS WEEK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thu 27 April – Chess : Junior 8.00 am Gr 3 Area, Room 7

Thu 27 April – Chess : Intermediate 3.30 pm, Gr 3 Area, Room 7

Fri 28 April – Chess : Advanced 8.00 am, Gr 3 Area, Room 7

(Room 7 is on the ground floor in the main building, Senior School, Grade 3 bag area – near the concrete stairs)

ANZAC Day The Office has ANZAC fundraising merchandise for sale. Price for pins, pens and wrist

bands ranges from $1.00 to $5.00.

School Banking …

The next school banking day is Tuesday 25 April.

Northcote High School Just a reminder for Grade 6 families that applications for the Northcote High School ACE (Advanced Curriculum Extension) program for Year 7 2018 close on Monday April 24th. Application forms can be downloaded from the NHS website http://www.nhs.vic.edu.au/?q=teaching/ace