Newsletter 8 September 2016 – #27
Acting Principal’s Report
Science Expo Night for Parents, Students and Staff
On Tuesday 13th we are very much looking forward to our Science Expo night, commencing at 5:30pm and concluding at 6:30pm. The school will be open to display engaging Science exhibitions and interactive activities that students from the entire school have been experiencing and investigating this term.
We encourage you to come along, be involved and share in the stimulating learning. The topics and ideas for each year level are:
Prep: Different Ways things move: The Science expo night will involve Prep students working their moveable puppets and joining in with the Year 1s and 2s in their shadow light show. There will also be an interactive maze to explore.
Years 1 and 2: Light and Sound: You will be able to help build cup phones and interact with the shadow puppet displays.
Year 3: Force and Motion: May the Force Be With You. The Year 3 rooms will exhibit a range of activities to explore. You could build and test your own carrot car, or create a paper helicopter or make your own balloon rocket!
Years 4 and 5: Light: Diorama displays, poetry reading about light, pictures made by light, slideshows and photographic displays showcasing investigations, CSIRO display of CD spectroscopes to reveal the component colours of different light sources.
Year 6: Electricity and Magnetism: battery testing, circuit building, light producing tasks that will assist you to understand how electricity works. Experiment with magnets; learn about links between electricity and magnetics. Exhibition activities will include instruction cards, slideshows and videos to view.
We encourage you to attend and be involved in these exciting Science Expo events. We will look forward to seeing you there.
More details about our Science Expo and the stimulated learning that has occurred this term with Science, follow later in this newsletter.
Literacy and Numeracy week
As mentioned in our previous newsletter, last week was national Literacy and Numeracy week. Many exciting extra learning activities were experienced during this special week.
- Congratulations to 1E who won the school wide Bingo competition
- There was a home reading competition across the whole school, the results of which are being finalised
- There was a magnificent poetry performance from Brian Nankervis (co-compere of RocKwiz)
- Teachers and students experienced some of the possible activities from the national Literacy and Numeracy website
- Parents/carers were invited to become involved in the activities for the week with their children, by accessing website activities and ideas which were dedicated to parents/carers
To continue the impetus and encouragement provided to students for poetry writing, reading and appreciation, following are examples of student poetry, written last week:
Brian or Raymond
A very funny guy
Came to our school
And from laughter we cried
He pulled out some magic
Some poems and jokes
Got the audience involved
And put on his beret and cloak
First Max then Kayla
Then I got involved
Who was calling on the phone?
That mystery’s still not solved
First Brian
Then Raymond J. Bartholomeuz appeared
When he fell off Uluru
He almost lost his head
The Party Hats played
That made Raymond smile
Werewolves of London
The applause was not mild
We thank him for coming
Raymond or Brian, you decide
The session seemed brief
But time does fly
Hannah Wolfe 6J
There once was a cat from Ballarat
Who found a rat under a mat
He chased it up a tree
But all he could see, was the rat’s knee
And that’s the story of the Ballarat cat
Jess Wright and Raphi Bloch 4/5P
There once was a girl from Kentucky
Who was never very lucky
She passed a black cat
Who was wearing a top hat
And then she tripped on her own rubber ducky.
Freya Matthews 4/5P
There once was a girl from Britain,
Who bought herself a mitten,
Only to find it too small,
Bought a new one at the mall,
Then realised it was a fake kitten.
Lucy Balfour 4/5P
Blue
Blue is the flooding water that takes things away
Blue is for countries of Europe in the Olympic rings
Blue is for frost that can take over your body
Blue is a primary colour
Blue can be tears and sadness
Blue is electricity that powers technology
Our planet is bright blue from space
Blue is the ozone that protects Earth
Blue is a colour in a rainbow
Blue can be threatening natural disasters
Blue is the colour of a tasty berry, on a ferry called Blueberry
Blue is the good side and the opposite of evil
Blue is seen as flowing water
Blue is the smell of an ocean breeze
You can feel blue on a smooth surface
Blue is the taste of mint
Blue is the greatest colour in the universe
Rayyaan Khaleel 4/5A
Light
Candles that burn from day to night
Stars that twinkle from dark to bright
Fire that sizzles from low to high
Lightning that thunders from truth to lie
Headlights that flicker from slow to fast
Lightbulbs existing from present to past
Sun that shines with all of its might
That is how I feel about light
Alyssa Borrirak 4/5A
Meeting/event reminders:
Saturday 10th September: Prep to Year 6 Disco in the Wendy Wilson Hall: Preps to Year 2, 5:00 to 6:30pm, Years 3 to 6 6:00 to 7:30pm
Monday 12th September: Responsible Pet Care: Prep to Year 2
Tuesday 13th September: Science Expo for Parents, Students and Staff, 5:30 to 6:30pm
Friday 16th September: Book Parade Prep to Year 3 12:00 – 1:00pm, Footy dress-up and Pie day
David Jenkins Acting Principal
“So Wrong” book launch
On Wednesday, 14th September, Michael Wagner (Author) and Wayne Bryant (Illustrator) will be coming to Glen Huntly Primary to launch their new book “So Wrong”.
There will be a session at no cost for Prep – 2 students followed by 3 – 6. Students will have the opportunity to purchase a signed book after the sessions.
Wayne Bryant will also be taking an art class for selected students.
Mandy Zent
Congratulations to the following students who received a ‘Student of the Week’ award at last week’s assembly.
Aadhya 0B – creative writing about the Cabaret.
Naga 0B – creative writing about the Cabaret.
Emily 0F – taking the challenge to write a fantastic recount about Cabaret.
Athulya 0F – welcoming and supporting our new class member.
Leo 0P – having a fabulous week at school.
Diya 0P – making huge improvements in Reading.
Riley 1E – writing independently during writing time and using his best hand writing.
Tia 1E – always listening to and following instructions, and practising writing his numbers.
Tanishka 2M – contribution and enthusiasm during math lessons.
Asher 2M – writing creative and entertaining poetry.
Alex 2T – excellent reading skills in our choral reading session.
Rhapsody 2T – fabulous contribution of your ideas in our learning about caring and non-caring relationships.
Alex G 3S – amazing reading effort.
Kane 3S – amazing reading effort.
Josh 3F – being a kind and thoughtful classmate at the Cabaret.
Aarushi 3F – producing a wonderful sensory poem about Cabaret.
Jude 4/5K – concentrating on his work in class and active participation in the Poetry performance.
Mandy 4/5K – organising the mathematics equipment, always working hard and showing a passion for reading.
Josh 4/5K – showing creativity in his writing and giving an excellent presentation to the class about his “light” diorama.
Pranjal 4/5A – For her extra effort to improve fluency and rhythm when reading her poetry.
Preetish 4/5A – For his excellent diorama and presentation on light. His research was comprehensive and enlightening.
Jess 4/5P – For his hard work, great decision making and concentration in maths groups.
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Stimulating Science & Sustainability @ GHPS
Prep students have been exploring the different ways things move, looking at themselves, objects and animals. They have discovered that the size, shape, material and function of things changes the movement. At the Science Expo Night you will see them working their moveable puppets and joining in with the Year 1s and 2s in their shadow light show. There will also be a cool interactive maze to work your way through.
The Year 1s and 2s have this term been exploring Sound and Light. When investigating different sounds, they have discovered that sound is caused by vibrations travelling through the air. Ru bber band experiments have been conducted to see the varying vibrations when pulled or flicked. Body percussion has also been explored by creating the sounds of different weather events using our bodies. The cohort has also delved into the different role light plays in our lives. Come prepared to help build cup phones and interact with the shadow puppet displays.
Year 3 students have been learning about Force and Motion: May the Force Be With You. The students have conducted and observed investigations to explain and determine what factors affect motion. They have learnt how forces can be exerted by one object on another through direct contact or from a distance. As young scientists the students have been involved in making predictions, describing patterns and relationships, making carrot cars, investigating different types of axles and designing and making their own cars. The Year 3 rooms will have a range of activities for everyone to explore. Come and build and test your own carrot car! Create a paper helicopter or make your own balloon rocket!
The students of the 4/5 classes have been investigating Light this term, with a lot of hard work and toil being put into the dioramas you will see on display in their gallery. Also, you will be able to read poetry about light and view pictures made of light! Slideshows and photographic displays that showcase all of the investigating that has been taking place will also be available to view. CSIRO scientist, Dr Fiona Scholes (Arnaud and Claudia’s mum), will also be presenting a display showcasing some CD spectroscopes to look at the component colours of different light sources.
In the Year 6 laboratory, students have been investigating electricity and magnetism. At the expo you will be drawn towards engaging in battery testing, circuit building, light producing hands on learning tasks that will help you understand how electricity actually works. You will also have the opportunity to experiment with magnets and learn about the links between electricity and magnetics. There will be instruction cards to follow, slideshows to view and videos to watch.
The ‘Lost Lunchbox’ movie (made by our 4/5K students) will be screening in Ms. Krauze’s room and the Sustainability Captains will be selling the lost GHPS lunchboxes for a gold coin donation (money going towards the Sustainability Program – indoor plants for classrooms!).
So, as you can see, there has been a great deal of stimulating scientific learning taking place in Term 3. Please join us celebrate this on Tuesday September 13 on the East Side at our Physical Sciences Expo Night. Hope to see you there!
SUSTAINABILITY
In Term 1, professional educators from the Eco Centre talked to staff about the importance of incorporating sustainability into the curriculum.
Students in each level area, after discussions and brainstorming activities, created and displayed environmental pledges
ENVIRONMENTAL MESSAGES THAT ARE HANGING ON THE BRANCHES OF THE SILVER TREE CREATED BY WINNING 3-6 GRADES
“Global Warming is coming fast, take action now so the earth will LAST!”
“Doing our best to take care of the planet.”
“We are respecting the environment.”
“If trees save us, why can’t we save the trees?”
“We pick up our rubbish.”
“We like to keep our school clean.”
“We are going to save the environment,
because that is our job.”
CONGRATULATIONS to 3S and Prep F for winning the most Rubbish Free Days last semester. They each won a decorative, indoor fern for their classrooms!
In Term 2, Rubbish Free Wednesday was reintroduced to the school. The Golden Lunchbox Award was created for the Prep to Grade 2 students and the Silver Tree created for the Grade 3 to Grade 6 students.
Each week classrooms tally the amount of packaging in their lunchboxes using an equation (number of pieces of rubbish divided by the number of students in the grade). The Sustainability Captains visits rooms and announce winners from each side of the school at assembly.
In Term 3 all students participated in a Cross-Age Lunchbox activity.
Last week all the grades in the school paired up with their buddy classes and worked on a lunchbox activity. They analysed food in lunchboxes, talked about healthy foods and discussed the importance of reducing plastic packaging for the environment and the necessity of eating in designated areas, surrounded by bins.
“On Friday, the students from Prep F came over to work with us on a sustainability activity. We learnt a lot about how the Preps comprehend information and it was great fun having them over in our room. Working with the preps reminded me about how I used to be when I was their age.
My buddy was called Ralin and we did our lunchbox posters together. We talked about all the packaging in her lunchbox and what foods were healthy and what foods were not”.
TERM 3 WORKING BEE – ATTENDANCE
At assembly Grade 45A was presented with a prize for the greatest attendance at the 7.8.2016 Working Bee! Thank you to all the families in the school for helping keep the Glen Huntly Primary School Grounds beautiful!
HIGGINS SUSTAINABLE NATIVE GARDEN PROJECT – $500 WIN
GHPS has received news as a result of the Turnbull Government’s re-election, and due to being located in the Higgins electorate, the school will receive $500 to purchase native plants. This project will help encourage students to continue to research native flora that existed on this land before the European settlement.
RECYCLING UNWANTED AND UNNAMED LUNCHBOXES
The school has had its first recycling lunchbox sale. All unnamed and unwanted lunchboxes and water bottles are up for sale to the GHPS community for a gold coin. Money raised will be donated to the Sustainability Program. A lot of lost lunchboxes are happy to have found new homes!
We will have a big sale at the Science Evening, so bring along a gold coin donation and look for the recycling table!
John Jacobs and Kamila Krause
Science/Sustainability Innovation & Development Leaders
NOTICES DISTRIBUTED TO PARENTS |
1st Sept Prep-1 students Chocolate Drive
2nd Sept All students Pie Lunch
5th Sept Grade 3-4 students Camp Waratah
5th Sept Grade 3-6 students Book Launch
5th Sept 4/5K students Ms Krauze LSL
5th Sept 3T students Mr Thompson return
6th Sept All students Science Expo
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Prize Winner!
Congratulations to Hugo in 2M on winning a prize in a drawing competition run by the Melbourne Zoo.
It is wonderful to hear that you have a membership with the Zoo, supporting endangered animals.
Well done!
GLEN HUNTLY PARENT ASSOCIATION News
Important GPA Dates – TERM 3
(11 July – 16 September)
Friday, 9 September 2016 (2.15PM – 3.15PM) – GPA Meeting in the Art Room (West site) – All welcome
Saturday, 10 September 2016 (8.00AM -1.00PM) – September Farmers Market (Grade 3 Families)
Saturday, 10 September 2016 (5 – 7.30pm) – Kids Disco – SAVE THE DATE
Friday, 16 September 2016 (lunchtime) – Pie lunch for last day of term
and many more exciting events to come
The Glen Huntly Parents Association (GPA) is the social and fundraising sub-committee of Glen Huntly Primary School. We are a group of parents who organise fun activities and events for the children and the school community. We also coordinate fundraising activities which provide much needed funds for our school. We are always keen to welcome new members
– come along to our next meeting or let the office know if you would like to be added to our mailing list.
Read on to find out about:
- Fathers’ Day Stall – thank you to our volunteers and bakers
- REMINDER – Cadbury Fundraiser – money due back
- URGENT CALLOUT for volunteers and reminder to come support our farmers market – on 10 September
- Kids Disco on 10 September (5-7.30pm)
- Icy-pole and hot chocolates – on sale Friday lunchtime
Find a list of our SIGN UP rosters (including a brand new, Term 4 – Cake Raffle roster) at the end of this newsletter and SIGN UP!
Thank you to all of the following parents who volunteered at and/or baked for the Fathers’ Day stall: Aarti Dave, Caitilin Hawkins, Deepa Kolhar, Hayley Kringas, Helen Matthews, Ian Parsons, Jenn Knight, Kathryn Dench, Maria Simmons, Melanie Birkby, Monika, Nicole Verginis, Reham, Reshma Shah, Rohini Kulkarni, Surireddy Tharana, Vidya Jala, Vinodhkumar Seshadri, Yvonne Balfour and to anyone else who turned up or baked but didn’t sign up. A very big thank you to Lu Shaw who planned, purchased for and coordinated the stall.
Thank you also to all the families who supported our fundraising by purchasing gifts at our Fathers’ Day Stall. We hope all the Dads enjoyed the gifts that were chosen with such care and love.
Our Fathers’ Day stall raised $1250 for the school. We couldn’t have done this without your help!
Cadbury Chocolate Drive – Money due back
If you haven’t already done so, please return all chocolate money to the office in the envelope supplied, clearly marked with your child’s name. Thank you for supporting our fundraising. All money raised will go towards our Capital Works Project and assist with the purchase of split system air conditioners and classroom furniture.
September Farmers Market – 10 September 2016 – URGENT CALLOUT FOR VOLUNTEERS
The roster is now open for the September Farmers Market and has been filling very slowly. This month we are calling on Grade 3 parents and children to fill the roster. At the time of writing the roster was only 26% filled, but hopefully it will be looking a little healthier as you read this. Please follow the September Farmers’ Market link below in the SIGN UP section at the end of this newsletter or on SkoolBag to see if we still need your help and choose one spot or more. Alternatively, you can email gpacommunicationsofficer@gmail.com to find out how you can help.
Don’t forget to come down and support our Farmers’ Market this Saturday and encourage your family and friends to do the same. We depend on support from our school community to make the Farmers Market a success.
Kids Disco on 10 September 2016 (5-7.30pm)
in the Wendy Wilson
No ticket sales at the door. Parents collecting children at 7.30 are welcome to join in the dancing fun until 8.00pm (while we clean up around you).
Thank you to those who have already volunteered to help. Our roster is now full. Feel free to stick around at the end to help us clean up.
ICY-POLE AND HOT CHOCOLATE ROSTER
Icy-poles and hot chocolates can be purchased every Friday for $1 each. Children who bring their own cup receive a free marshmallow! Thank you to Yvonne Balfour, Cassandra David-Shields and Reham for helping out last week. The roster has been filled for this term (see below).
| Date | Volunteers | ||
| 9 September | Melanie Birkby | Fiona Davey | Cassandra David-Shields |
| 16 September | Melanie Birkby | Yvonne Balfour | Dianne Mentis |
We need your help on the following open rosters
| EVENT | Date(s) | SignUp link | % Filled |
| September Farmers Market | 10 September | http://signup.com/go/wQvo1p | 26% |
| Kids Disco | 10 September | http://signup.com/go/A1WqkQ | FULL |
| Term 4 – Cake Raffle | 7 October – 16 December | http://signup.com/go/QMPVGR | 0% |
We are now using the SignUp website to coordinate upcoming events. Here’s how the website works:
1) Click on the event specific link, or copy it into your browser to see the roster. The links to open rosters will also be provided on SkoolBag.
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Sign up by entering your name, email address and phone number! It’s Easy – you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.
SignUp does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address or if you need help, you can contact gpacommunicationsofficer@gmail.com and we can sign you up.
The SignUp website will send you a reminder and will let you change or cancel your spot if your circumstances change, or you can contact gpacommunicationsofficer@gmail.com and we can change it for you.
Cake raffle
Congratulations to Alex 2T on winning Rose Agnew’s delicious Chocolate Cake at last week’s assembly and thank you to Briana for joining our bakers’ list.
This week’s creation is from Cassandra David-Shields so don’t forget to bring your $1 coin and have the chance to win something delicious.
| CAKE RAFFLE TERM 3 | |
| 9th Sept | Cassandra David-Shields |
| 16th Sept | Nicole Verginis |
CABARET POEMS
I see lights shining bright
I hear music dancing all around the big hall
I feel the beat pumping in my soul
I smell fresh dancey air
I taste excitement all around
Dakota 3S
I see my mum and dad watching me
I hear lots of adults clapping and cheering
I feel amazed at how many people are watching
I smell perfume from the person next to me
I taste the thrilling performance
Kane 3S
CALENDAR
SEPTEMBER
Thu 8th Sporting After School Program – Softball
Sat 10th Farmers’ Market
Sat 10th Kids Disco
Tue 13th Science Expo
Wed 14th Book Launch
Fri 16th Pie Lunch
Fri 16th End of Term 3
OCTOBER
Mon 3rd Term 4 begins
Wed 16th Grade 3/4 Camp
Little Book Worms
At Glen Huntly Primary School
3 to 5 year olds
Tuesday @ 9.00am to 10:00am
Book on 9571 29
This week in Little Book Worms we made pirate hats.
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DISTRICT ATHLETICS
Congratulations to the following students who participated in the District Athletics last Friday, 2nd September:
4/5A – Jim, Jorja, Tharun, Eden, Pranitha.
4/5K – Prachi, Derick, Linaya, Oliver, Jude, Nicole, William.
4/5P – Freya, Uno, Kayla, Jun.
6J – Tess, Bianca W-S, Nick, Max K, Hannah, Bianca P, Jashith, Thomas, Manasvi, Kurt, Amelia, Max S, Bella, Blake.
You all represented our school in an excellent manner.
Special mention to Linaya: 1st in Shot Put, Tess: 3rd in High Jump and Amelia: 3rd in 100m Sprint.
Fantastic effort.
School Council Report
School Council met on Monday 5th of September
A summary of key items presented and discussed were;
- Capital Works Update 2015/2016 – Kevin O’Rourke, the Senior Provision & Planning Officer for the South Eastern Victoria Region of the DET, presented an update at the meeting. The great news is common sense has prevailed and the school have been able to draw on the new funding announced earlier in the year to put towards key items that the current project had to leave out. This means that key items already planned for can now be completed as part of the current project which a) means the school get better resources straight away for the West Site and b) save money doing so as they have been added as variations to the current project rather than having to complete them as a separate project. Current aim is to have the project completed as early in Term 4 as possible with an official launch of the new space to take place in early November.
- Capital Works Update 2016/2017 – having pulled funds from this as per point above, the school is now left with approximately $190,000 for phase 2 of capital works. A highly experienced architect has been engaged to help the school get the best bang for its buck, with plans hopefully available by end November and tender out to contractors by end January. The key focus will be the main entry for the school to make it more welcoming and user friendly.
- 2016 Cabaret was an overwhelming success and School Council would like to acknowledge and thank all involved for making it a night to remember.
- NAPLAN results are out and the school again outperformed against overall state results. Whilst this already reflects strongly on the school, the aim remains of all staff to continually improve student outcomes in Numeracy and Literacy.
- A new Ministerial Order came into effect on August 1st with regards to Child Safe Standards. This encompasses 7 new standards which School Council reviewed and ratified. These standards will be made available on the school website where all school policies reside.
- The school’s new website has launched and it looks fantastic. A huge thank you to Ross Donan, Arthur Le, Amy Tinetti and all others involved in creating this fabulous resource for the school.
- Numerous GPA activities are on the agenda this term. The recent Father’s Day Stall and soup lunch were both very successful. Upcoming are the Kids Disco this Saturday night and pie lunch on last day of term. The GPA continues to be the driving force behind the fundraising and social activities of the school.
- There will be new look newsletters in Term 4. There will be the usual whole of school newsletter that will be published every 2 weeks, and a separate GPA focussed newsletter published in the alternate weeks. The aim of these changes is to provide more of an impact to the info being sent home to the school community whilst at the same time better deploying the resources of the school. As usual all newsletters will also be available on the website and via the Skoolbag app.
If there is any issue any member of the school community would like to raise with School Council, please email glenhuntly.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au
Craig Matthews
School Council President
Uniform
To purchase uniform please see the uniform page on the website.
BOOK WEEK 2016
On Friday, 16th September we will be holding our annual Book Parade straight after assembly for Grades Prep – 3 on the senior side.
Students are encouraged to dress as their favourite book character. Parents are welcome to attend and see all the wonderful book characters during the parade.
PIE DAY FRIDAY, 16th SEPTEMBER
All orders forms are due back tomorrow, Friday, 9th September
Meat Pie, Vegetarian Pastie & Sausage Rolls are available
As this order needs to be placed on Friday, 9th with Three Little Bakers in Murrumbeena we cannot accept Late Orders.
(Any late orders will have to be through the normal lunch shop on the day)
