Volume 25 Issue 38 Thursday 5 December 2019

www.brentwoodparkps.vic.edu.au

term dates 2019 term 3 15 jul - 20 sep term 4 07 oct - 20 dec 2020 term 1 29 jan - 5 apr term 2 23 apr - 28 jun

10 DEC YEAR ONE XMAS CONCERT 11.15 13 DEC FOUNDATION XMAS CONCERT 11.15 13 DEC LAST DAY FOR CANTEEN. 16 DEC PARENT HELPER THANK YOU MORNING TEA 10.15 20 DEC YEAR 6 GRADUATION-PAYMENT DUE BY 9TH DEC jim bell, principal jenny reid, assistant principal jo-anne doran, assistant principal

DATES TO REMEMBER

S chool Captain Elections 2020 Although the school year for 2019 is winding down, prepa-

rations are already well underway for 2020! As such, our elections for school captains 2020 were held last week on Wednesday 27 November. Our performing arts centre proved to be a most appropri-ate facility for the occasion with candidates being given the opportunity to present themselves to the students of Years 3, 4 and 5. To commence, our current school captains shared their reflections of the experiences gained throughout the year in their roles and reassured all candidates that despite the outcome, all are worthy leaders. This was followed by all thirty-six candidates, fourteen boys and twenty-two girls, making their election speeches to their “electorate”, and to those staff present. We were suitably impressed with the confidence and public speaking skills demonstrated by all of the con-tenders! Next, it was off to the polling booths for the casting of the votes into the ballot box! The outcome will be conveyed at this week’s assembly!

C ongratulations Congratulations are extended to Year 5 students, Iliana, Delisa, Holly, and Jacinta on their crea-

tive designs entered into the Gary mass MO Bookmark Competition. Iliana was awarded first place with final-ists including Delisa, Holly and Jacinta from Brentwood Park Primary School. Iliana’s drawing will now be made into a bookmark to be distributed throughout the school and community next year.

The finalists’ pictures and various other entries were placed on display at Oakgrove Community Centre’s ‘Celebrations Around the World’ event last Saturday 30 November, from 11am – 3pm.

S chool Assemblies As you are aware, school assemblies are held in our gymnasium each Friday at 2:30 p.m. They

provide us with the opportunity to address the children collectively and to give recognition to student achievement through the presentation of student awards such as Stars of the Week, student performances and personal achievements! Last week, we were able to recognise the scientific talents of Angus [5EB]. Charlie [5LF], Olivia [5JG] and Thomas [5SI] who, following their presentations at John Monash Science School as par t of the Little Scientists program, took the opportunity to share their scientific endeavours with the parents, staff and students assembled! Details of their science projects were presented in reports in last week’s newsletter. Everyone present at assembly was suitably impressed with the confidence the four students displayed as they spoke and how well they articulated their science projects to all those assembled.

P ersonal Achievement Our congratulations are extended to Neelesh from

1NC for achieving a finalist place in the Northern Stars 2019 Victorian Junior Primary School State Final Chess Championships. Neelesh has only been playing chess for the past year and during the finals, he participated in seven rounds of games with each game taking between one - two hours to complete! What concentration!! Neelesh proudly took home a medal and certificate to commemorate his achievement!

Y EAR SIX GRADUATION AND GROUP PHOTOS

SchoolPix photographed the year six students on the 7th

November and they are free of charge and will be distributed at the year six graduation evening. A personalised card was given to your child regarding the other photographs, such as peer mediators, bpTV team and athletic groups/individuals. If you have lost the card, the office has a generic card to replace the personalised card ,in order for you to go online and purchase a photograph.

N ew Mobile Phone Policy The Victorian Government takes the safe and responsible

use of digital technologies, student safety and wellbeing, and the development of social skills and positive behaviour, very seriously. On this basis, the Hon. James Merlino MP, Minister for Education, announced that a new mobile phone policy would take effect from Term 1, 2020. Whilst the Victorian Government acknowledges that we live in a technology-rich world where mobile phones are an important communication tool, research has found that mobile phones can be disruptive in classrooms and open to misuse at school. The unregulated presence of mobile phones in classrooms can undermine students’ capacity to think, learn, remember, pay attention and regulate emotion. At recess and lunchtime, opportunities for students to communicate with each other face-to-face or be involved in physical activity are also valued, rather than students being focused on a mobile phone, particularly when they are using it to engage with social media. This new policy acknowledges that technology is increasingly affecting how students learn and communicate. Therefore, when a student has been given explicit permission to access and use such devices to enhance learning by the classroom teacher, mobile phones will be permitted for that specific purpose. For a small number of students with particular health and wellbeing needs, an exception to the policy may also be granted. As a school, we acknowledge that the misuse of mobile phones may be more prevalent in a secondary school setting, however, primary schools are not immune from their misuse. Our school council has ratified our Mobile Phone - Student Use Policy and we have included a copy of the policy in this week’s newsletter for reference!

B ellbrook Catering The last canteen day for 2019 is Friday 13th

December and the first canteen day for 2020 is Friday 31st January. Bellbrook Catering would like to wish all staff, students and families a safe and happy Christmas break and a happy new year! Please note that from 2020 lunch orders can ONLY be ordered using QKR.

Term 4 Week ending 29 November, 2019

0BC Pranav for your awesome job finding mystery words with the THRASS chart. Keep it up! 0JF Elisa for her fantastic fluency and expression when reading. 0JH Aidan for working hard to create and solve addition problems! 0LP Arianna for writing a FANTASTIC story about a lost earring in Candy Land. Your spelling is AMAZING! 0SM Scarlett for having a fantastic attitude towards learning. You are a Superstar! 0TL Yuxuan for his outstanding results this year across all curriculum areas. 1AB Jathusan for working hard to share a collection into two equal groups. Well done! 1HG Leila for the persistence you demonstrate to complete tasks with troublesome eyes. 1KC Sophie for her enthusiasm and effort to sing and dance well during our concert practice! 1MK Harsh for working really hard to project his voice during concert practice. 1NC Stefan for displaying class values and being a positive member of 1NC. 1NG Taj for always having a positive attitude and giving everything a go. Super effort! 1TN Reina for always being a kind and thoughtful friend to everyone. Well done! 2AD Kunal for developing his fluency and detailed CAFÉ work. 2AK Keenan for confidently presenting your passion project on basketball! 2CM Jake for showing a great understanding of doubling numbers. 2CV Sadia for being so positive with new friendships. 2RG Shen for presenting her ‘Whales’ project creatively and confidently. Super effort! 2SY Bailey for his amazing book report. 3CH Jessica for writing a fabulous reflection this week. Great work! 3DK Tilly for being a helpful, kind and considerate class member! 3MF Edward for always being a diligent worker who aims to achieve all learning goals. 3MS Paige for always trying to achieve her learning goals with a smile on her face. Well done! 3SA Crystal for always having a positive attitude and for putting a smile on my face every day. 4BM Rylee for having an amazing week at school! 4CP Lilly for achieving her handwriting goal and gaining her pen licence. 4EC Grace for showing all of the school values when mum needed you. Well done! You should be very proud.

Term 4 Week ending 29 November, 2019

4SM Hunter for articulating and sharing his understanding of historical terminology with his peers. GREAT JOB! 4VG Riley for being super scientifically minded. 5EB Jack for being so diligent this week in maths, especially when practising multiplication strategies. Well done! 5JG Smrithi for being an inquisitive student and making a fantastic display on silkworms. 5LF Charlize for writing an amazing ‘Lost’ narrative. Well done! 5LM Olivia for always being kind and respectful to those around her. 5LM are so lucky to see your infectious smile every day. 5SI Thomas for doing an amazing job at John Monash Science Fair! 6JA Grace for writing a detailed reading journal - great job! 6JP Marcus for being kind, respectful and positive, you are an asset to our class. 6LM Olivia for being kind, considerate and always putting a smile on our faces. 6MB Lily for her representation of the school values. Well done!

SPECIALIST CLASSES

LOTE. Chunyan 1MK for your excellent participation in creating and playing the Chinese tangram. LOTE. Daisy 6MB for showing your positive attitude in learning Chinese! Great work! P. Arts. Linda 3MF for concentrating well to accompany ‘Cup of Life’ on bucket drums. It will be a great performance. P. Arts. Larissa n/a P.E. Jim 6LM for a brilliant and strategic game of Volley Stars. P.E. Mel 6JA for their amazing skills and teamwork when playing softball. V. Arts. Jessica FJF for working hard and helping each other to complete your chain link snowmen. V. Arts. Bree 5LF for your wonderful fabric painting and excellent clean up. D. Tech. Lisa n/a

P LEASE DIRECT MONEY FOR EXCURSIONS, ETC TO YOUR CLASSROOM TEACHER - NOT TO THE OFFICE.

Please hand money and permission slip in sealed envelopes to classroom teacher first thing in the morning. By following this process teachers are aware that your child will be attending the excursion and mark them off

their lists. Money is collected by office staff and processed each morning and a receipt given back to teachers along with permission slips. All money is tallied and banked daily – no money is left on the premises. If you wish to pay by credit card, a proforma is available from the office. This can be filled out with details and placed in a sealed envelope and handed to your classroom teacher

Please deliver cash in a sealed envelope with your child’s name and grade on the front by 9.30 a.m. If you have a number of children attending an excursion you can place all money and permission slips in the one envelope with children’s names and grades on the front and deliver to one of the children’s teachers. The office staff will be able to allocate money to the children’s particular items and distribute permission slips and receipts back to teachers. Enve-lopes are available at the office. If you have a large amount to be paid or need to process an EFTPOS transaction through a savings account you can make arrangements to pay at the office. We also have a new Qkr payment system on our Skoolbag app. If you download our Skoolbag app and Qkr payment app you can now pay for your child’s excursion on line.

All change will be delivered to the children in the afternoon. Re-imbursements will only be made under certain circumstances – they will be made by cheque (no cash transactions are made).

Notices are sent out with a final collection time – please adhere to this time. All money and permission slips are required to be sent back by this date – otherwise your child will not be able to attend. This enables us to confirm bookings and numbers with bus companies and organisations we are visiting. Also we need to send details to the De-partment of Education Emergency Management for all excursions, camps, etc. We also need to accommodate students who will not be attending.

We would appreciate it if parents could please follow these processes.