11 May 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Hello Parents, Carers and Friends

What a great start to the new term! Term two has significant events each year, NAPLAN testing and Mid-year reporting. This week our Literacy and Numeracy Coach, Mrs Wendy Palfreyman has ensured that all students in Grades 3 and 5 are well prepared for undertaking the testing. Our teachers are supervising their own students this year so that they are able to monitor not only how their own students perform but also support students who find testing somewhat stressful. We provide extra snacks to students each day before tests and do all we can to ensure that our students are able to do their best.

The data collected from NAPLAN will inform what professional learning we focus on as teachers, extra support for individual and groups of students, as well as resources we need to spend money on. Last year we invested $6000 for new Maths/Numeracy resources. This year we have spent $13,000 on stunning new Science resources. Our students deserve the most up-to-date and effective teaching resources we can afford, as do our teachers.

Next week our Grade 3, 4 and 5 students, along with some selected Grade 6 students will undertake the compulsory Water Safety and Swimming program at the Aquatic Centre. The Department of Education organise these sessions and monitor the progress of students as part of a whole state effort to ensure young people have the skills to enjoy water environments safely for the rest of their lives. This is not considered an excursion with an opt-out, unless due to medical reasons.

This term we have been successful in gaining a languages grant to introduce Auslan (Australian sign language) in our school. On Tuesday afternoons beginning May 30th, from 3.20pm – 4.20pm in our school library, sign language interpreter Roey Wilkinson, and Teacher of the Deaf Sarah Leonard will be teaching sign language for all levels, including those who have never signed before. All Risdon Vale primary School community members are invited to attend: parents, careers, students and staff. Our own Lana Story is already becoming a very skilled user of Auslan, and she will be there to help too.

As the cold weather has arrived I have noticed a number of students arriving to school in non-school uniform jumpers. Our school uniform is what makes us look so smart and helps our students to feel a sense of belonging. These expectations are also present at high-school and in most work places, and sporting clubs, so helping students to understand the importance of a uniform is vital. Our office staff and classroom teachers will do all they can to ensure that your child is able to borrow or be provided with a jumper or jacket if needed but firstly, we need your support every day, to ensure your child is in uniform when they leave for school in the morning. Our elected Parent Association has written the uniform policy, regularly updated, which I include in this newsletter.

We currently have in our school 7 Cert III TAFE students who will be with us every Wednesday until August this year. They are doing a great job and we are enjoying the extra help throughout the school.

Nerissa Waterfield, our recently appointed Aboriginal Education Worker has successfully applied for a full-time position elsewhere, so we thank Nerissa for the great work she did in such a short period of time. I would like to welcome Nerissa’s replacement, Sarah Pelikan. Sarah has already spent some time in our school with Nerissa.

I wish to explain a bit about my role. As the principal of the school, I am responsible for the safety of all who attend and visit our school. I have taught in approximately 10 other schools, including high schools and colleges, as well as done various roles across the Department of Education but I am always learning! I am absolutely dedicated to this school and its community. I take my leadership role extremely seriously. If there is something you feel I or we should do differently or better, I am all ears, my door is open and I am always visible and accessible. Comments of a negative nature about the school made on Facebook do nothing more than risk our future and is a put-down to all the great work that goes on in our school every day. Let’s celebrate our school. Let’s thank each other for the good that we do. Let’s back each other to get better every day through encouragement, advice and support!

I want to thank you, parents, carers and friends of Risdon Vale Primary School. As our enrolment numbers continue to creep up each year our future becomes brighter. This week I will submit three new applications to the Department for Capital Works funding. Our school is listed as a priority 1 school, meaning that the Department recognises the need we have for improving our building.

Kinds regards, Libby

This week the Department launched an exciting new Early Years website for parents and community members entitled It’s A Great Start. The website provides easy to access information about programs for the early years offered through the DoE, including Child and Family Centres (CFCs), Launching into Learning (LiL), Kindergarten, Learning in Families Together (LIFT) and LINC early years programs e.g. Rock and Rhyme, and Storytime.

The website is bright and cheery, easy to navigate, and features engaging videos which have been purposefully designed and put together to use with parents. Also incorporated is a range of valuable links to resources including film clips, fact sheets, and contacts to support parents with their child’s learning.

PRE-KINDERGARTEN 2017

This will start in second term on Thursday’s from May 4th

Times will be 9 am till 10.30 am

Children are eligible who were born in the year 2013.

You must fill out an enrolment form available from the school office.

Children are to be accompanied by a parent or carer.

You will need to bring 1 piece of fruit to share a drink bottle with water and a smock.

Green Card Awards that were presented at Assembly

May 8th

High 5 awards presented at Assembly 1st May 2017

High 5 awards presented at assembly 8th May 2017

Home Reading

Congratulations to these students, who received Home Reading Certificates at assembly this week.

School Association News.

Risdon Vale Primary School Association would like to welcome their newly voted in members:

Natasha Aitken – Vice President
Ashley Jubb – Teacher member

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who nominated. If you have any suggestion on what you would like to happen around our school that the school association can help with please fill in a suggestion sheet at the office.

Our Easter Raffle raised over $250 and all winners have been notified and prizes delivered.

Uniform Shop

The uniform is now being run by the School Association President Tamara Knop and Rachel Paige.

The hours in which it will be open is:

MONDAY: 8.30 til 9am
WEDNESDAY: 8.30 til 9am
FRIDAY: 2.30 til 3pm

If other times are needed please contact Tamara or Rachel on the Risdon Vale Primary School Association Facebook Page.

Word of the week

Acceptance

The term acceptance is a noun with three different meanings.[2]The first is the act of taking or receiving something offered. For example, if someone gives a gift and another receives it, then they have accepted the gift; therefore, having acceptance.

Another definition of acceptance has to do with positive welcome and belonging; favor and endorsement. For instance, a person could like someone and have acceptance for them due to their approval of that person.

The third description of acceptance is that it can be an act of believing or assenting.

Acceptance – "An express act or implication by conduct that manifests assent to the terms of an offer in a manner invited or required by the offer so that a binding contract is formed. The exercise of power conferred by an offer by performance of some act. The act of a person to whom something is offered of tendered by another, whereby the offered demonstrates through an act invited by the offer an intention of retaining the subject of the offer." (Chirelstein, 2001)

This definition overlaps with the definition of the quality known as toleration. Acceptance and tolerance are not synonyms.

Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now, etc.) defines acceptance as a "this is it" response to anything occurring in any moment of life. There, strength, peace and serenity are available when one stops struggling to resist, or hang on tightly to what is so in any given moment. What do I have right now? Now what am I experiencing? The point is, can one be sad when one is sad, afraid when afraid, silly when silly, happy when happy, judgmental when judgmental, overthinking when overthinking, serene when serene, etc.

Tips for teaching acceptance….

There are many things in life that we have a choice over. However, people cannot choose the way they are born. The color of their skin, their gender, their sexual orientation, the type of family we are born into, and many other things are out of our control.

This is why one of the most important things that you can do is to teach your child acceptance of “different” kinds of people. Rather than a sit-down lesson, this is done through your own daily actions and interactions. The example you set through your daily behavior is the one your children will learn most from. The most important message to convey is that people may look different, but each person has a heart and feelings that matter.

Speak kindly about others and make sure your children do the same. Teach them to imagine that the words they are saying are about themselves. What they want to hear those thoughts said about themselves? If not, they need to think twice before speaking.

Using unkind words or slurs is never acceptable. If your children hear a derogatory term used at school, calmly explain to them what it means and why it would be so hurtful to repeat such a mean thing.

Speak with your children about different people and families as you would any other family that resembles yours. Answer all of their questions, and do some matter-of-factly and respectfully. Children know when you are not being completely honest and will wonder why. Learn together about other traditions and cultures of families. Knowledge is power.

I think the most important lesson I could ever teach my children is that each person is a human being and deserves to be treated equally. The example I set by treating each person respectfully is the way I can instill this valuable lesson to them.

Famous quotes on Acceptance:

What the world needs most is openness: Open hearts, open doors, open eyes, open minds, open ears, open souls. - Robert Muller

Acceptance of one’s life has nothing to do with resignation; it does not mean running away from the struggle. On the contrary it means accepting it as it comes… To accept is to say yes to life in its entirety. - Paul Tournier

Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. - J.K. Rowling

Anti - Bullying Campaign

OUR SCHOOL POLICY ON BULLYING

We would like to work in partnership with families to develop a School Policy on Bullying. Early next term we will invite parents to participate in a forum. The forum will help us to decide what to include in the policy -What is important for us as a school and what is important for the wider community?

Please read the following document published by the Department of Education that describes bullying and the impact it has on those involved.

What is Bullying?

Bullying is repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological aggressive behaviour by a person or group directed towards a less powerful person or group that is intended to cause harm, distress or fear.

Types of bullying behaviour

There are some specific types of bullying behaviour:

• verbal or written abuse - such as targeted name-calling or jokes, or displaying offensive posters
• violence - including threats of violence
• sexual harassment - unwelcome or unreciprocated conduct of a sexual nature, which could reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation or intimidation
• homophobia and other hostile behaviour towards students relating to gender and sexuality
• discrimination including racial discrimination - treating people differently because of their identity
• cyberbullying - either online or via mobile phone.

What is not bullying?

There are also some behaviours, which, although they might be unpleasant or distressing, are not bullying:

• mutual conflict - which involves a disagreement, but not an imbalance of power. Unresolved mutual conflict can develop into bullying if one of the parties targets the other repeatedly in retaliation.
• single-episode acts of nastiness or physical aggression, or aggression directed towards many different people, is not bullying
• social rejection or dislike is not bullying unless it involves deliberate and repeated attempts to cause distress, exclude or create dislike by others.

Bullying Roles

It is important to recognise bullying behaviours and make it clear they are unacceptable, but it is also important to try not to label students as 'a bully'.

Bullying is not acceptable

Most students don't want bullying to occur but often don't know what to do about it. It's important that all forms of bullying are taken seriously and that schools, parents and students work together to ensure that everyone understands that bullying is not acceptable - ever.

Bullying roles

People in a bullying scenario may take on one of the following roles:

• a person who engages in bullying behaviour
• a target who is subjected to the bullying behaviour
• an assistant who assists the bullying behaviour and actively joins in
• a supporter who encourages and gives silent approval to the bullying, by smiling, laughing or making comments
• a silent bystander who sees or knows about someone being bullied but is passive and does nothing, this may be an adult bystander
• a defender who supports the student who is being bullied by intervening, getting teacher support or comforting them.

All adults, including teachers, school staff and parents, should model positive bystander behaviour and intervene if they observe bullying behaviour occurring between students. Standing by and doing nothing, or leaving students to 'sort it out' themselves, sends the message to the whole school community that the bullying behaviour is being condoned.

Young people are still learning and practicing social skills. Everyone has the capacity to change their behaviour but being given a label can stick and make these changes much harder.

The Impact of Bullying

Bullying has a negative impact on everyone involved; the target, the bully and the bystanders.

Impact on students who are bullied

Students who are bullied are more likely to:

• feel disconnected from school and not like school
• have lower academic outcomes, including lower attendance and completion rates
• lack quality friendships at school
• display high levels of emotion that indicate vulnerability and low levels of resilience
• be less well accepted by peers, avoid conflict and be socially withdrawn
• have low self-esteem
• have depression, anxiety, feelings of loneliness and isolation
• have nightmares
• feel wary or suspicious of others
• have an increased risk of depression and substance abuse
• in extreme cases, have a higher risk of suicide, however, the reasons why a person may be at risk of suicide are extremely complicated.

Contributing factors to being bullied may include:

• depression
• family problems
• history of trauma
• belonging to a minority group, where isolation or lack of community support is an issue.

Impact on bullies

Students who frequently bully others are more likely to:

• feel disconnected from school and dislike school
• get into fights, vandalise property and leave school early.

In addition, recent Victorian research has shown that bullying perpetration in Year 10 is associated with an increased likelihood of theft, violent behaviour and binge drinking.

Impact on bystanders

Students who witness bullying may:

• be reluctant to attend school
• feel fearful or powerless to act and guilty for not acting
• have increased mental health problems, including depression and anxiety
• have increased use of tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs.
• Impact on schools

When bullying continues and a school does not take action, the entire school climate and culture can be negatively affected. This impacts on student learning and engagement, staff retention and satisfaction and parental confidence in the school, which can lead to:

• the school developing an environment of fear and disrespect
• students experiencing difficulty learning
• students feeling insecure
• students disliking school
• students perceiving that teachers and staff have little control and don't care about them.

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

Football in afterschool activities will commence from Wednesday 17th May

2.45pm – 3.45 pm on the Council Oval with Harry Pearce.

Calendar of Events