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YWPS Newsletter

Greetings From the PrincipalStudent achievementWriters, communicators, and problem-solvers! We have a HUGE talent in our school in ALL areas and this week I must highlight these three enterprising skills. One of our school improvement priorities is Writing, and all teachers have been developing children’s writing skills through frequent conferencing and feedback. Our children explore exemplary texts with their teachers – texts that have rich and evocative language, eg. ‘Fox’ by Margaret Wild, and then write their own stories or poems or songs. We have been impressed with our children’s writing growth this year, (79% of our Year 3s achieved Level 5-6 in NAPLAN), and many of our students in Year 3- 6 entered some of their poems in the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Writing Competition. I am very proud to announce that 2 children received particular attention for their poems, receiving a highly commended, and one shortlisted. Our Literacy leader, Lia Matheson, has written more about this further in this week’s newsletter.

Our Tournament of Minds Social Sciences team took on their finals challenge in Hobart with determination and great good humour, competing against teams from all around Australia, Hong Kong, and New Zealand. Although they didn’t win the number ONE prize, the experience of working together, problem-solving, and presenting has been hugely rewarding for all the children involved. It could not happen without the dedication of teachers David and Grace, and the support of class teachers, school council, parents and the YWPS community – THANK YOU!

Staff NewsCongratulations to Marisa Frisina, who will undertake an Acting Assistant Principal role for the rest of the year. And welcome back Michael Rogan to the literacy intervention team.

2020 Planning – classes for next yearTeachers will soon be talking to their children about next year’s classes, and the children will nominate three friends that they learn well with. Children can nominate a friend from their year level, eg prep nominates three prep friends. We try to ensure that every child has at least one nominated friend to be with in the grade. Some children find it helpful to have a chat with parents or caregivers at home, about who their nominated friends could be.

Moving out of our area?If you are moving location could you please contact the office to let us know as soon as possible. It is vital that we have accurate student numbers to cater for adequate staffing and programs for the 2020 year and more importantly, secure your child’s school placement for the following year.

Important Dates4th Nov • Curriculum Day (no school)

5th Nov • Melbourne Cup Holiday (no school)7th Nov • Music Count Us In (Hall -12.30pm )

14th Nov • Prep Night of Fun (5.30-7pm)

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Uniform SaleWow, what a morning we had at the pop up sale last week! Our parent volunteers Trina and Kristy, assisted by Val and Vicky from the office, were flat out with sales of brand new school clothing. It practically flew off the table and we are so pleased with the result. Many thanks to Trina and Kristy for all of their time on the day, and thank you parents for stocking up on uniform.

Curriculum Day Monday 4 November –school will not be openDon’t forget, no students at school on Monday as this is a Curriculum (student-free) Day. Teachers are staff are participating in professional learning to support our school improvement priorities – literacy, numeracy and student agency, and also the Respectful Relationships initiative that will be introduced next year.

Warm regards,

Karen

School Council UpdateSchool council meet on a regular basis (minimum twice per term) to assist in the efficient governance of YWPS, to ensure that decisions affecting students of the school are made in the best interests of the students, to enhance educational opportunities at the school and to ensure the school complies with any legal requirements or ministerial direction.

The last meeting was held on October 22nd, and involved planning for the 2020 school year, in addition to continued work towards resolving some ongoing issues:

Yarraville OvalAs most people would be aware, over the past two years the school has been subjected to more frequent disruptions to the availability of Yarraville Oval for regular use at recess/lunchtime and for scheduled sporting events. Maribyrnong City Council (MCC) report this is due to community demands on oval use, particularly on weekends, that results in a detailed maintenance schedule. With input and support from school council, Karen has undertaken extensive work, negotiating with MCC and the Department of Education to achieve an agreement with council that supports the school use of the oval for recess on Tuesday to Friday (and some Mondays), lunch times Monday to Friday, and some additional hours during the week to allow for PE classes and grade 5/6 sport.

This agreement has not yet been finalised, however it does represent the highest level of consistent availability that could be negotiated with Maribyrnong City Council. It has impacted upon the timetable for grade 5/6 sport – which has previously occurred on Friday mornings, but is now rescheduled for Wednesday morning.

Although the agreement does not approve unrestricted access to the oval, it was the opinion of school council that the agreement should be finalised to guarantee access and safety for recess and lunch times. All efforts will be made to obtain the oval for other scheduled activities through the council booking system – however this will be subject to oval maintenance requirements and other use.

School Music ProgramMany students in our school participate in the music program. This is a privately run program that offers singing/instrument lessons at school within school hours. Due to the increase of student numbers within YWPS over the past two years, there is significantly less space (no spare rooms/class rooms) in which this program can run. In addition to this, the numbers of students participating in the program has also increased. These combined factors result in significant disruptions for class room teachers as students come and go to lessons, and music lessons are restricted to smaller spaces within the school. For those families involved in the program, it has been communicated via the music program newsletter that there may need to be some changes to the program to reduce the impact upon school classes and to manage in the available space.

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School council is overwhelmingly supportive of the continuation of this program, however also recognises that the impact upon the school’s core function must be appropriately managed. Feedback from parents that had contacted the school was considered and many strategies for reducing the impact of the program, whilst still maintaining its benefits were discussed and proposed. A sub-committee has been formed with representatives from school council and non-council member parents. This sub-committee will work with the music program provider to develop an appropriate format for the program to continue running into 2020, whilst minimising the impact.

Other:

The school continues to achieve high academic results and the assessment results will be published in the annual report. School council also noted the achievement of the ‘Tournament of Minds’ team that made it to the National final held in Hobart last weekend – great work by all staff and students involved.Renee O’Donnell School Council President

T.O.M International Finals“This is the first award of the night. The school that will be awarded honours for the Social Science primary division is.... Yarraville West Primary School!”

On Thursday the 24th, seven very excited kids and two excited teachers jumped on a plane departing for Hobart. From there, Lara, Amelie, Leila, Charlie, Xanthe, May and Imogen, and the teachers, Grace and David, had four jam packed days of fun in sunny Tasmania.

The first highlight was our flight attendant announcing us on the plane! We got a huge clap from the other passengers on our flight. The great experiences kept coming; joining in with the welcome to country dance, feeding kangaroos, spotting Tassie Devils, trading badges with other states or countries, creating poems for our performance, discoing to shake off our nerves before the big presentation, running up to collect our honours medals and SCREAMING Disney karaoke on the bus home.

By the end of the final day we had taken away an honours medal and a bunch of memories none of us will forget. We’d all like to thank Karen, our parents, and the whole school for helping us to get to Hobart. And an extra, Extra, EXTRA big thanks to Grace and David for putting up with us the whole way through, even if it did mean drinking half a dozen coffees, each day!

We recommend Tournament Of Minds to everyone.

By Lara and Amelie - On behalf of the TOM Social Sciences team

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Natural DisastersAs part of Grade 5/6’s Term 4 inquiry unit into the impact natural disasters have on environments and people, students are seeking primary resources to support their research. Understanding the sensitive nature of this request, we are wondering if anyone in the YWPS community who has had any personal experience with any natural disasters would be willing to speak to our Grade 5/6 students and answer some questions. If so, please email Ed - Weatherson.edward.e@edumail.vic.gov.au

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Last term 1/2 Louise wrote a letter to

the Federal Environment Minister, Hon. Sussan Ley, to express their concerns regarding endangered australian animals. Along with the letter, the students included powerful

posters with messages to stop deforestation and pollution. The students walked down to the post office to post the package and have eagerly been waiting a reply for

weeks! Finally, last week, they received a reply from the Minister. The students' passion around 'saving endangered animals ' has been inspiring and we are very proud of

them for enthusiastically taking this action!

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Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Competition

Late in Term 2 the Year 3-6 students were exploring poetry writing. During the unit, each student had the opportunity to submit up to two pieces to the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Competition, a highly regarded national competition for young Australian writers. This year YWPS submitted over 250 poems! An amazing contribution of creative pieces showcasing the skills of our students. We received some exciting news just a few weeks ago, with two of our Grade 6 students being acknowledged for their work. Abi Salter’s poem entitle ‘Easter’ received a high commendation and Milena Boller’s poem ‘Vanity’ was short listed. I was thrilled to make the announcement at assembly last week and share the girl’s poems with the school community.

Congratulations Abi and Milena!

Easter By Abi Salter Up near Lake Eildon, There the galahs are as loud as garbage trucks, And the grass, Prickles with insects, We look for Easter eggs, To fill our bellies We stand at the fence., Look around, Ready to run, And as we let our legs take over, The screams of joy from other camps ring the air, And that night, With the stars flashing, With no lights to stop the stars shine. I remember And wish that today could repeat, Forget not.

Vanity By Milena Boller

My name is Vanity.

Everyone admires me but I have no friends I have no respect for ugly faces, I always want

what I don’t have. I’m on your mirrors and polished glass,

My appearance is vital. I’m narcissistic and needy,

The jewels in my hair make people feel envy. I’m burdened with self-love and foolishness.

My victims are helpless, they always want

more. Searching for a reflection even small,

the consequence of vanity is not being seen for who you truly are

I have a lively beautiful shell, but inside there’s

just a carcass. The shrivelled body of the old me who wasn’t

obsessed with its image. I ruin relationships with the sheer look of my

face, But I love myself and could never love another.

Lia Matheson Grade 3-6 Literacy Coach

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Our young artists had the opportunity to visit international artist Haroon Mirza’s installation “The Construction of an Act”. He combines sound, light and objects to engage our physical, visual and aural perceptions of his work. He also blurs the boundaries between his art pieces- so we got to experience one installation in multiple rooms. His interests in science, technology and sound were quite apparent in his installation! Our young artists partook in TALK THINK MAKE, an inquiry-based responding and making program directly linked to the exhibit. Using Haroon Mirza’s exhibition, we applied our critical thinking skills and made connections between the art, the ideas presented in the exhibit with our personal experiences before making our own artworks to take with us. Our excursion challenged our definition of “what is Art” and has definitely given us something to talk about in the Art room! Above all, I hope that it has inspired even our most reluctant artists that they can achieve great creations if they find the medium they are most passionate about. Thank you to the wonderful parent volunteers who joined us on our excursion. Ralia Koutsogianopoulos

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Book Reading with author Davina Bell Prep Nat/Mel

Prep Nat/Mel were treated to a

very special visitor on Tuesday.

Davina Bell, author of All The Ways To Be Smart, Under The Love Umbrella and Oh Albert (to name a few), came to our

class to read some of her

stories. She gave us some pretty

cool tips on how picture books

are made. We can’t wait to

start writing stories of our

own. Thanks Davina, we think your books are pretty awesome!

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YWPS RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN

Reconciliation Australia’s Narragunnawali program supports all schools and early learning services in Australia to foster a higher level of knowledge and pride in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and contributions.

We have been running a Reconciliation Action Group (R.A.P.) at Yarraville West for most of this year and we are looking for ANY INTERESTED PARENTS who would like to join the group for our last meeting of the year, where we intend to brainstorm new ideas for 2020.

MEETING: 6:00 -7:00pm

WHERE: Staffroom

WHEN: Thursday 14th November

Please contact Naomi or David if you would like to attend. Love to see you there!

mountford.david.r@edumail.vic.gov.au

nishiguchi.naomi.n@edumail.vic.gov.au

Recently, teacher Heather Britton and a large number of grade 5/6 students created a Claymation movie about the story of a Wurundjeri teenager. The students had to incorporate the theme of LISTEN. The movie explored Cultural understandings of songlines, Wurundjeri Language and relationships to Country, for example. We received permission to make the movie after consulting with the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc (VAEAI) and providing them with the script.

I spoke to Meredith Whittaker, grade 6 student, who wrote the script and she said:

“I used knowledge I learnt at school and I researched at home about songlines. It is important we learn about Aboriginal Culture and knowledge as Aboriginal people have been here for so long and because non-Indigenous people can learn things from Indigenous people, especially about the environment.”

Please enjoy this amazing movie – Louie’s Song.

https://youtu.be/a2O58b0scMk

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