Great start It has been a very smooth and productive start to the new school year. I would like to welcome all of our new students and their families to William Ruthven Primary School. We have had quite a number of families in all year levels start at William Ruthven PS. In particular I would like to welcome our new Foundation students and their families. I am very impressed with how well they have settled into school and look forward to seeing them grow and develop throughout the year. I would like to welcome Ms Lauren N and Ms Joanna W to William Ruthven PS. Lauren is teaching in the grade 3/4 Unit and Joanna in the 5/6 Unit. I would also like to welcome back Erika B and Sandra P after a 12 month absence.

Below is a list of the teachers at William Ruthven for 2017. F-2 Unit Co-Ordinator: Kerry B Foundation: Lauren L ,Tina A Grade 1/2 Class teachers: Eleanor M, Stephanie M & Chara S, Denise K 3-6 Unit Co-Ordinator: Suzie N Grade 3/4 Class teachers: Tara B , Lauren N, Erika B Grade 5/6 Class teachers: Sam T, Joanna W, Ritika M

Specialists Art- Dora T, Library- Lauretta B, Physical Education- Kent S, BSEM -Suzie N, Science-Kerry B, Reading Recovery- Kay G, LOTE Sandra P, Classroom Support– Gillian J.

2018 School Council Elections Nominations will open soon for two parent representatives on the William Ruthven Primary School, School Council. If you are interested in being on the school council or would like to find out more information about what is involved with being on the school council, please feel free to contact me. More information will be sent home shortly. No Hat No Play A reminder to all students and their families that in terms 1 and 4 hats are an essential part of the school uniform. All students must wear a hat at recess and lunch breaks. If hats are not worn students will be asked to stay in the undercover section near the front office. Parent Helpers Parent helpers play an integral part at William Ruthven PS. Parents help in many different ways, from being involved in school council, school banking, fundraising to classroom helping and covering books. We are appreciative of any help that you can provide. Very soon we will be sending home a note asking for parent helpers. Those who are wanting to be classroom helpers will need to undertake a short parent helpers course. Notes and dates about the parent helpers course will be sent home short-ly. Bunnings BBQ Recently a note was sent home requesting help at our upcoming Bunnings BBQ to be held on Saturday March 3 rd at the Thomastown Bunnings. Thank you to those parents who have responded to our request. This BBQ is a great fun day where we kick off our fundraising activities. If you are able to help out on the day please fill in the form in this newsletter and return it to the office. Lost Library Books Last year School Council invested a considerable amount of money into our school library purchasing new books for the stu-dents, they have decided to continue this investment this year. An audit of our books had indicated that quite a number of books have not been returned or lost. As a result of this families of students who lose or fail to return school library books will be asked to cover the cost of replacing the book. Coles Sports for Schools This year we are participating in the Coles Sports for Schools Programs. Our student leadership will be leading our involvement in this program. If you shop at Coles, please remember to collect your vouchers and then place them in the box that is located in the foyer of the office. Student attendance & lateness Just a reminder to all our families about the importance of ensuring your child attends school on a regular basis and arrives at school in time to start school at 8:50am each day. This is particularly important for students in the Foundation, Grade 1 and Grade 2 area where we are setting up positive school habits that will help them in later years.

Allan Waterson

Principal’s message

Have you visited our website

For all the latest information on our school visit our website: www.williamruthvenps.vic.edu.au

Important Dates

FEB

16th - Athletics

Grades 1/2

19th - School

Council Meeting

20th - F-6 Meet and

Greet 3pm-5:30pm

21st - Athletics

Grades 3/4

23rd - Athletics

Grades 1/2

26th - Relay for Life

27th-3-6 Swimming

Program

28th - Athletics

Grades 3/4

MARCH

1st - 3-6 Swimming

Program

2nd - Athletics

Grades 1/2

3rd - Bunnings

BBQ Thomastown

60 Merrilands Rd

Reservoir 3073

Ph 9460 1668

Fax 9460 1858

14th February 2018

2018 Term Dates

WILLIAM RUTHVEN PRIMARY SCHOOL 5544 ABN: 84116388399

RESPECT CONFIDENCE COMPASSION

Term 1 29th February– 29th March

Term 2 16th April—29th June

Term 3 16th July—21st September

Term 4 8th October—21st December

Student Of The Week

Page 2 14th February 2018

2nd February 9th February

This year is the second year that the staff at William Ruthven Primary School, have been participating in professional development for the successful implementation of the Berry Street Educational Model. The BSEM program focuses on whole school role modelling of personal wellbeing strate-gies and the development of positive relationships between teachers and students through the five BSEM domains. These domains are:

BODY – focuses on developing strategies for the self- regulation of a physical or emotional response to a stress trigger.

RELATIONSHIPS – emphasises the need for the development of positive relation-ships between students and teachers which helps students to become or remain focussed in their learning.

STAMINA – encompasses strategies for building students’ personal resilience so that they can remain on task and develop a persistence approach to their learning.

ENGAGEMENT – requires educators to use many strategies to engage students in their learning to further their academic achievement and successes.

CHARACTER - focuses on understanding one’s personal strengths and using these strengths positively at school and within the wider community.

For this year, the focus will be on the Stamina, Engagement and Character Domains. Please contact me if you would like to discuss any aspect of this program further. Suzie N BSEM Coordinator

Berry Street Education Model (BSEM)

Prep A

Prep B

1/2 A Alana

1/2 B Amelia

1/2C Jodee

3/4 A Ali

3/4 B Tiana

3/4C Max

5/6 A

5/6 B

5/6C

Art F-6

PE - F - 6 Bella S & Asees S

L.O.T.E

Performing Arts

Library F-6

Science F-2

Assist Principal Foundation A &B

Principal

Prep A

Prep B Nick

1/2 A Isabel

1/2 B

1/2C Ameer

3/4 A Aryan

3/4 B James

3/4C Ebony

5/6 A

5/6 B

5/6C

Art F-6 Nicholas U

PE - F - 6 Marcus C & Jacob L

L.O.T.E Salim E

Performing Arts

Library F-6 Ekam S

Science F-6 Amelia M

Assist Principal

Principal Ethan B

IT’S A

BOY

Congratulations to Ms D and her partner on the safe arrival of

their little boy Sacha!

Born 23rd Jan at 5:57 am

Weighing 3698g

Mum and baby are doing well.

Introducing the staff

14th February 2018 Page 3

Allan Waterson Principal

Tina A Foundation A

Kent S Curriculum

Co-ordinator & PE

Kaye C Business Manager

Suzie N 3-6 & BSEM Co-ordinator

Peter M Assistant Principal &

Welfare

Kerry B F-2 Co-ordinator

& Science

Lauren L Foundation B

Stephanie M 1/2B

Denise K 1/2A

Chara S 1/2B

Eleanor M 1/2C

Tara A

3/4A Erika B

3/4B

Lauren N 3/4C

Sam T 5/6A

Jo W 5/6B

Ritika M 5/6C

Kay G Reading Recovery

Lauretta B Library & Perf. Arts

Dora T Visual Art

Sandra P L.O.T.E

Gillian J Classroom Support

Cathy P Education Support

Luk L IT Technician

Mary I Education Support

Lee P Education Support

Claudia B Education Support

Foundation

14th February 2018 Page 4

The Foundation students have set-tled well into our school and have enjoyed the routines of the class-room so far. We have happy faces every day and they have enjoyed learning new and different things each day. They have begun learning the alphabet and their sounds. We have started learning our Jolly Phon-ics songs and listening to the stories. We brainstorm words together and draw them in our book. On this day our letters for the day were c and k – we learnt two because they both have the same sound.

Asees

Tate

Zoe

Foundation

14th February 2018 Page 5

Tabatha

Indy

Nick

Kirrawai

14th February 2018 Page 6

Community News

BUNNINGS THOMASTOWN BBQ – Saturday 3

rd

March, 2018 Our school will be hosting the Bunnings Thomastown BBQ – on Saturday 3rd March and we need parents/volunteers to help man the stall. If you could spare 2 hours to assist it would be greatly appreciated.

Please fill in the time slots below with your name & contact phone number and return the notice to the Office.

8:00 – 10:00am

Filled

Filled

Filled

Filled

10:00 – 12:00pm

Filled

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12:00- 2:00pm

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2:00 – 4:00pm

Filled

Filled

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SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS

MONDAY 8:45AM-4:00PM TUESDAY 8:30AM-4:00PM WEDNESDAY 8:30AM-3:15PM THURSDAY 8:30AM-4:00PM FRIDAY 8:30AM-4:00PM

Sick Students

Deciding when to keep a sick child at home from school is not always easy. It’s important for children to attend school but when a child is genuinely sick they need to stay home and be cared for by an adult

in order to get well and to prevent spreading illness to others. The school does not have the facilities or the staff to care for students that are unwell. Please ensure your emergency details are kept up to date and provide the school with an alternative contact if you cannot be reached. We thank you for your cooperation and hope all families display our school value of RESPECT in this matter.

Process for sending notices and money to school We have a process in place at WRPS for returning notices and money for excursions, swimming, camps, special events, etc. Notices and money are to be given to the classroom teacher as it will need to be entered into the teachers cash book. Please do not send cash to the office. Cash is to be sent to school in a sealed envelope clearly labelled with your child’s name, class, payment descrip-tion (ie. excursions, uniforms) and the amount of money enclosed. It would be appreciated if the correct amount was enclosed. If you wish to pay via EFTPOS, please come to the office to make the payment and we will mark the notice as paid by EFT. The notice is then to be handed to the classroom teacher, as they will be keep-ing a record of the students who have paid. Any money that is sent to the office will be sent back to the teacher with the student/parent.

School Banking

To open a NEW School Banking account, parents/carers must first go to the Commonwealth Bank & complete an application. You will need your child’s birth certificate. If you have any queries pop in to the office on Friday mornings 9:00-10:00 to chat to the School Banking team.

14th February 2018 Page 7

Community News

Uniform Sales Hi Parents, Welcome Back! The wearing of school uniforms is compulsory for all students at William Ruthven Primary School. The hours of the uniform shop have now changed. Uniforms can be purchased on the following days & times: Monday 2:30-3:00 pm. Thursday 2:30-3:00 pm. Friday 2:30-3:00 pm. Alternatively you may place an order through the school office any day of the week. Price lists are available from the front office or may be downloaded from our website www.williamruthvenps.vic.edu.au. Thank You,

Lee P

SUNSMART REMINDER

William Ruthven Primary School is a SunSmart school committed to ensuring students and staff are protected from too much UV which can cause skin and eye damage and skin cancer. Our school uniform includes skin covering clothing and sun protective hats and we have shady spaces for students to access. But we need your help. SunSmart recommends SPF30 or higher broad spectrum, water resistant sunscreen be applied to any skin not covered by clothing. Please help support this initiative by:

Talking to your child about the importance of using sunscreen regularly to help prevent skin damage and skin cancer

Ensuring your child knows how to apply their sunscreen independently and has had some applied before they come to school

Being a SunSmart role model at home with sunscreen, hats, clothing, shade and sunglasses.

Ensuring your child has and wears the correct hat to school during Term 1 and Term 4

Give our Facebook page the thumbs up for another way to get all school

updates and communication.

Dropping off Lunches

To minimize the inter-

ruptions to students

working in the class,

we would like all par-

ents delivering late

lunches or any other

items to come via the

office. Lunches should

be left at the office

and the office staff will deliver them

to the students 5 minutes before

eating time begins. This process is

less disruptive and less likely to im-

pact the children working in their

classroom. We thank you for your

cooperation and trust all parents will

display our school value of RE-

SPECT in this matter.

WILLIAM RUTHVEN PRIMARY SCHOOL MEET AND GREET

A meet the teacher will be conducted on Tuesday February 20th

from 3:00 pm until 5:30 pm.

This is your opportunity to tell the teacher things about your child such as:

Their hobbies

What they like and dislike

If they are involved in out of school activities i.e. tennis, footy, netball etc….

Do they have a space set aside for doing their homework

Any other information that might be helpful for the class teacher to know about your child

This meeting is not a progress report about your child.

Thank you, Allan Waterson Principal

William Ruthven Primary School Is now taking enrolments for 2019

Academic Excellence Personalised learning Innovative curriculum

A strong focus on Literacy and Numeracy Committed and dedicated teaching staff

Strong partnership between school and family

A specialist Science School

William Ruthven Primary School 60 Merrilands Rd Reservoir Tel: 9460 1668 Fax: 9460 1858

Email: william.ruthven.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Website: