Newsletter #11 19 July 2018
Principals Report
Welcome back to everyone and I hope all families enjoyed the school holidays. We are looking forward to an exciting term 3.
A special welcome to Ms Bianca Bruce who will be teaching Music for 4 weeks this term as Mr David Jenkins is teaching Grade 5 until Friday 10 August while Ms Roth is on leave.
Parent/Teacher/Student Three- Way Conversations
On Tuesday 24 July we will be holding our Parent, Teacher and Student discussions for Grades 3F, 3S, 4J, 4O, 5S, 6A and 6P. A separate afternoon and evening session will be offered to the families in 5R after Ms Roth returns.
For Grades Prep, 1 and 2, theses will be held on Wednesday 25 July. Where applicable, students can actively contribute and be involved directly in writing their future learning goals and further strengthen the partnership between the class teacher and your family.
A notice has been sent home this week, which parents need to return to their child’s class teacher.
100 Days of Prep on Friday, 3rd August
A very exciting milestone will soon be arriving for the students of Prep F, N & R. They will mark their 100 days of Prep with a celebration of their learning. Parents of prep students will be invited to the presentation of certificates and to bring and share afternoon tea in the Prep Rooms. Please find more details in next week’s Prep Newsletter which will come home with your child.
DET Parent Opinion Survey 2018 -We want our parents to tell us what they think.
Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The Parent Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents. It is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of parents’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour and student engagement. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.
Approximately 30 per cent of parents will be invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. This year the Parent Opinion Survey will be conducted from Monday 23rd July to Sunday 26th August.
The survey will be conducted online, only takes 10-15 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in a range of languages other than English. These include: Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Chin (hakha), Hindi, Japanese, Somali, Turkish, Punjabi and Greek. The survey results will be reported back to the school at the end of September.
House Rewards
Congratulations to the members of Batman House for earning the Term 2 reward by having the highest number of House points. All members of Batman House will be able to enjoy a free BBQ sausage provided by GPA and cooked by John Tinetti on Wednesday 1 August. Great work everyone!
School Uniform
A reminder to please ensure your child is dressed in the GHPS correct uniform every day. The school really does pride itself on all students wearing the uniform correctly, and does not want this spoilt by some students continuing to wear non-school colours. Please contact the office if you need any further assistance.
2019 Prep Enrolments
We would like all families who have pre-schoolers starting school next year to please get their enrolment forms into the office as soon as possible as planning is already well underway for transition and the November and December dates which are on the school’s website. Thank you to the families who have done so already.
Dates & Meeting Reminders
The GPA will be meeting tomorrow on Friday 20 July in the WW Hall straight after assembly. We look forward to seeing you there. All new members are very welcome.
Principal
Libby Alessi
Grade 5/6 Travel Expo and MAPPEN
As part of the Year 5 and 6 Inquiry topic, ‘Think Local, Act Global’ students chose a country in pairs to research and present at a Travel Expo. The Travel Expo, held in Week 10 of last term, showcased the dedication and effort that students put in to the find out a country’s climate, cost of living, natural disasters and cultural celebrations. The staff and students who visited the Travel Expo stalls were very impressed with the level of work that was produced by all students. We can’t wait for our Poetry Slam for Inquiry this term!
A message from your Assistant Principal Amy Tinetti
Department of Education changes to student attendance:
New Attendance Requirements
If your child is sick or absent, you are required to notify the school as soon as possible on the day of absence.
Notifying the school of your child’s absence either prior to, or on the day that they will be away, helps ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and will fulfil your legal responsibility.
From the beginning of Term 3 2018, all Victorian government schools are required to contact parents/carers as soon as practicable on the same day of an unexplained student absence. If your child is absent on a particular day and you have not contacted the school to explain why, the absence will be marked as unexplained.
This system also promotes daily school attendance. Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education, they learn new things every day – missing school puts them behind.
The Glen Huntly Primary School Attendance Policy which outlines the school’s processes and procedures for monitoring, recording and following-up of student absences is available on the school website.
Important Information:
1. Contact details
There are times when we will need to contact you, including on the day if your child is absent and you haven’t informed the school as to why. Do we have your most up to date contact details? If not, please contact the school on 9571 2931 or email us at glenhuntly.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au so we can update our records. Please include parent/carers’ name, address, phone numbers, email address and emergency contact details. Please remember to contact the school if any of these details or your circumstances change.
2. Notify the school of your child’s absence
Protecting the safety and well-being of children through the reporting and monitoring of absenteeism is the responsibility of both parents/carers and schools.
Please remember to call the school on 9571 2931 or email at glenhuntly.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au or log your child’s absence using our Skoolbag app early in the morning if your child is going to be away or late for school so your child’s absence can be recorded correctly.
3. Same-day notification of unexplained student absences
Our school will call you as soon as practicable on the day if a student is not at school and you haven’t notified the school as to why. If you are notified by the school that your child is away without a reason, please contact us as soon as possible by calling, emailing or using the Skoolbag app to let us know where your child is. If we cannot reach you because we don’t have your correct contact details (i.e.: message notification fail, disconnected number), then we will make contact with any emergency contact/s nominated on your child’s file held by the school, where possible, on the same day of the unexplained absence.
Please remember it is your responsibility to contact us to provide an explanation for your child’s absence from school, and where possible, please inform us in advance of upcoming absences.
The Term 3 Working Bee will be held on Sunday 29th July. Please come along and lend a hand with other members of our school community to make our school grounds look beautiful! There will be lunch provided on the day and this term we will be have on offer chicken and corn soup, pumpkin soup, pulled beef rolls and vegie burger rolls, YUM! A notice will go home tomorrow with more information.
Cooking Term 3
Term 2 cooking classes were a hive of activity. Each week the students enjoyed measuring, mixing, chopping, slicing and rolling their way to a feast of Savoury Scrolls and Apricot & Oat Muffins. All of the children did a fantastic job in class…….and going by the speed of consumption and requests for seconds, they really enjoyed the output as well.
We are able to achieve so much in our 2 hour session as a result of the tremendous support from the GHPS community. Along with classroom teachers and support staff, most classes had mums, dads and grandparents along to help. Special mention goes to Tharana Surireddy (Raghav 2M) who provided great support every week. Thank you all for your assistance.
Term 3 cooking classes start next Thursday, 26th July.
6A is up first at 9am, followed by 6P at 11.30am.
Notices distributed to parents
18th July All Students Parent/Teacher/Student Three- Way Conversations
19th July All Students Icy-poles / Hot Chocolate orders
Calendar
July
Thur 26th Year 6 Cooking
Sun 29th Working Bee