29 September 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Hello Parents, Carers and Friends

We have now come to the end of Term 3 and are heading into the home stretch towards end of year.

The first thing that comes to mind when I reflect on Term 3 was the challenge of sickness this term. Certainly the amount of illness amongst staff meant that we expended a great deal of our resources on making sure that all classes had teachers and that our support staff, including Teacher Aides were all covered. We are lucky to have a large team of people who are dedicated and loyal to RVPS who at a moment’s notice will come in for a day or week or even a term of relief work. These relief staff members are very good at what they do, so I feel lucky because many schools were unable to cover classes and had to lose special programs because of illness.

I would like to thank Ms Eleni Dokos for her hard work and commitment in P/1 B this term. Mr David Pears, Mr Russ Miller and Mrs Pamela Mears also worked here regularly over Term 3 and will continue to do so in Term 4. Mrs Janet Dicker and Ms Emma Jeffrey, Mrs Rachel Page and Haylee O’Brien also joined us on many occasions to ensure our Term 3 continued to deliver high-quality support for learning. Thank you all so much.

Our plans for the ECE toilets are taking shape with the expert advice of Mr Mark Dunbabin, Architect. The toilets will have four cubicles, each with its own hand basin. In Term 4 we will be able to share the plans via the newsletter. All classes and staff have had the opportunity for input with many constructive ideas being discussed. The toilets will be re-developed over the summer in time for P-2 classes in 2018.

We are constantly looking for areas of improvement to infrastructure in the school, so writing funding applications is crucial. We have been successful in a number of grants. This term saw the installation of the new ECE play equipment. The children are enjoying this very much and staff are finding the duty area a safer place for all. The same can be said for the new section of fencing near the carpark. We have also received further funding to continue to develop the school garden as a teaching space whereby real life Science, literacy, numeracy, life-skills and art can be increasingly linked to the garden. We are also in communication with the Department of Education about new roofing over the primary classrooms and library. We will keep you informed as planning goes forward.

Of course, Term 3 has been a huge community term. The school fair was a big success thanks to the School Association and the support of the entire school community. Other ways in which parents, families, carers and friends connected with school this term was through events such as ‘3 for Me’ where parents visit classrooms, Meeh-an-Dad which enabled dad’s special time with their kids and a meal at school. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of family in supporting learning at school. Please do come to Monday school assembly when possible, engage in Home Reading and participate in school events. Doing these things does improve the educational outcomes for your children.

Congratulations to our two Grade 5/6 debating teams. Their performances sky-rocketed over the four debates in quality of research, speech preparation, public speaking and team work. This was a huge achievement for our school and an event that we will continue to participate in.

The Education Act became active as of July 10 this year. Our focus areas for implementing the Act into Term 4 will be on attendance and behaviour. Essentially this means that attendance procedures and expectations will be made clearer to you and our staff. It also means that clear expectations of behaviour for all members of the school community will continue to be maintained.

On the behaviour front, I have been pleased that students understand that they are here to learn and the teachers are here to teach, meaning that teachers’ instructions are non-negotiable, and respectful behaviour towards all staff is an expectation of our workplace and school. I have been vastly less impressed in these last couple of weeks of students’ behaviour towards each other. We have had a spate of vicious name calling, as well as other students standing by and choosing not to remove themselves or report to a teacher. We will be addressing this very seriously right from now and into Term 4. I appreciate that distressed parents have been able to discuss their concerns with me in a respectful and helpful way, enabling me to support their child and address behavioural matters. Our school vision is to educate children for social and emotional wellbeing. I feel we have much more to do in this area. We are a NO BULLY school and yet around me I see behaviours that make my stomach turn. We WILL get there together as a learning community.

Enrolments for 2018 are now open. I encourage you to support our school to remain a strong and viable presence in the community by sharing our achievements and our positive gains with your friends and neighbours. Next term one of our students will receive an award for being in the top 1% in the state for their learning! Now, that’s something to put on Facebook. Our recent testing for mathematics is also showing improvements in student learning.

Enjoy the holiday break and stay safe. See you in Term 4.

Kinds regards, Libby

Hi 5 Awards presented at assembly Monday 18th September

Hi 5 Awards presented at Assembly Monday 25th September

Home reading certificates presented at assembly 4th 18th and 25th September

Home Reading

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

Word of the Week

Community

What does the word Community mean?

A community is a small or large social unit (a group of people) who have something in common, such as norms, religion, values, or identity. Communities often share a sense of place that is situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, town, or neighborhood) or in virtual space through communication platforms. Durable relations that extend beyond immediate genealogical ties also define a sense of community. People tend to define those social ties as important to their identity, practice, and roles in social institutions like family, home, work, government, society, or humanity, at large. Although communities are usually small relative to personal social ties (micro-level), "community" may also refer to large group affiliations (or macro-level), such as national communities, international communities, and virtual communities.

The word "community" derives from the Old French comuneté, which comes from the Latin communitas "community", "public spirit" (from Latin communis, "shared in common").

Human communities may share intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, and risks in common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness.

Community is about people, who are connected developing relationships, engaging and working together to make their place better to look at strengths and to bring about real and lasting change.

What does Community mean to Risdon Vale?

Our school is part of the Risdon Vale community. We have a strong network of people working together to make this community unit. Our school is linked to the neighbourhood centre with Ann Harrison leading groups of people from within this community to help other people through breakfast club, homework program and lunches for the elderly. (This isn’t limited to what they do as they have a huge list of where they help).

The Risdon Vale Neighbourhood Centre engages with and has the trust of people in their local community. We are responsive to community needs and have a large volunteer base. The Neighbourhood Centre is run by the community for the community and provides an essential foundation for civic participation. The centre is a not-for-profit, community organisation whose core business is community development. The Neighbourhood Centre is about Community development an inclusive, fair and responsive approach to creating solutions with communities. The centre strives to be accessible and welcoming and are inclusive and supportive of people from diverse backgrounds and with varying abilities

Ant Edler runs the Risdon Vale Bike Collective and supports the school by helping with events and doing student programs not only for our current students but students in high school with in the area. The Bike Collective’s workshop is a space were young people can connect over a common interest and develop a whole range of skills. The program has been operating for over 13 years in various forms and a lot of the students involved started when they were in primary school and stay connected right through until they leave high school. This makes the Bike Collective unique as it allows meaningful relationships to build over many years developing a strong sense of community around the program.

We have local stores and medical centre which gives our community access to everyday needs.

As society changes and knowing your neighbour is becoming less of the norm Risdon Vale Community is becoming a rare acquirement. We live a supportive community where you can say hello to the person walking down the street. Many people grew up in the area and now have families of their own. The word community is what makes Risdon Vale stand apart from many other suburbs, because that is what they are; just a suburb.

Our Community

RIDDLES

Q: What comes down but never goes up?
A: Rain

Q: I’m tall when I’m young and I’m short when I’m old. What am I?
A: A candle

Q: Mary’s father has 5 daughters – Nana, Nene, Nini, Nono. What is the fifth daughters name?
A: If you answered Nunu, you are wrong. It’s Mary!

Q: How can a pants pocket be empty and still have something in it?
A: It can have a hole in it.

Q: In a one-story pink house, there was a pink person, a pink cat, a pink fish, a pink computer, a pink chair, a pink table, a pink telephone, a pink shower– everything was pink!
What color were the stairs?
A: There weren’t any stairs, it was a one story house!

Q: A dad and his son were riding their bikes and crashed. Two ambulances came and took them to different hospitals. The man’s son was in the operating room and the doctor said, “I can’t operate on you. You’re my son.”
How is that possible?
A: The doctor is his mom!

Q: What is the longest word in the dictionary?
A: Smiles, because there is a mile between each ‘s’

Q: If I drink, I die. If i eat, I am fine. What am I?
A: A fire!

Q: Throw away the outside and cook the inside, then eat the outside and throw away the inside. What is it?
A: Corn on the cob, because you throw away the husk, cook and eat the kernels, and throw away the cob.

Nursery Rhyme of the Week

There Was An Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe Nursery Rhyme Activities

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she did not know what to do.
She gave them some broth with a big slice of bread.
She kissed them all soundly and sent them in bed.

CIRCLE TIME

How Many Children?

Bring a large shoe or boot to circle with a dozen or so small little people. Count all the children into the shoe after reciting this rhyme!

GROSS MOTOR ACTIVITIES

Shoe Matching

Have the children take their shoes off. They place one in a big pile and hold the other. Send a few children at a time to the pile to find their other shoe!

Practice teamwork by giving one shoe to a pair of children and they help each other find the match.

MATH AND MANIPULATIVES

Lacing

In advance, make shoe and boot shapes out of construction paper and laminate them. Hole punch holes around the edges. Provide the children with laces to practice lacing.

How Many Children?

Place old shoes on the floor with a number taped to each one. Provide toy people for the children to count out the number of "children" they need to place in each shoe.

ONLINE COLOURING IN

ONLINE CROSSWORD PUZZLE

News from the Kitchen

Fund raiser for Children’s Medical Research

One of our parents Mr Craig Burr is doing the 2017 Great Cycle Challenge the info is written below.

Hi,

I've recently signed up for the 2017 Great Cycle Challenge and will be riding this October to fight kids' cancer!

My goal is to ride 600 km next month and I will be pedalling throughout the entire month to reach my target.

Why am I doing this? Because cancer is the largest killer of children from disease in Australia - 3 children die of cancer every week.

My challenge will be tough, but it's nothing compared to what these innocent kids face every day of their lives as they battle this terrible disease.

Kids should be living life, NOT fighting for it.

And so I am taking my own personal challenge to raise funds to support cancer research and give these kids the brighter futures they deserve.

Please sponsor me and support my efforts to end childhood cancer and save little lives.

Simply click on the link below to view my fundraising page:

All funds raised will support Children's Medical Research Institute to continue their work to develop treatments and find a cure for childhood cancer.

Thanks so much for your support.

Craig Burr
P: +61 (03) 6271 2200 | M: +61 (0)438 430974

News from the School Association

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS