7 December 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principals Report

Dear Parents, carers and friends,

Congratulations to Shanita, Taylor, Chloe and Kassie who competed as our school’s representative team in the inter-school swimming carnival. They did brilliantly! Thanks to Teka who went as reserve and thanks also to Deb our chaplain and Trameka for supporting the team at the pool.

We are very excited to be welcoming 11 young Fijian rugby players to our school next week. These wonderful islander people are working with the Risdon Vale local community and will be doing a range of cultural and sporting activities in classes.

Congratulations to Connor Flakemore for representing Tasmania in boxing. Connor has now gone up an age and weight division. We wish him the best of luck for his future in boxing.

Thank you to Mrs. Pamela Mears for organising this year’s RVPS triathlon! Mr. Russ Miller helped students train during lunchtime and many teachers, teacher aides, and Rob, Sue and Janine supported the grade 3-6 students in participating. Mrs. Mears has also been running our Early Years water orientation for Prep – Gr 2 program, and the pool rewards program for Grades 3 – 6. Mr. Miller and teachers have supported this program with arranging classes and helping the children participate. Our pool is such an amazing asset to RVPS and it’s great to see it being so well used.

We wish our inter-school triathlon participants the best of luck at Bellerive Beach this week! We have 36 students participating which is a record number.

I am able to confirm that Facility Services DoE are going to fund $90,000 for a new roof over the primary classrooms and the library. As a school, we will contribute $12,000 for painting the windows and eaves. I am really pleased to share this most recent piece of school building improvement.

What a great event ‘Meeh-an-Dad’ was on Monday 27th Nov. It was great to see lots of dads, grandads and the special men who help look after our school’s kids. The dads were really involved in lots of different activities and games with their children, as well as helping to make the pizzas for dinner and listening to a book reading.

The Growing Up program was on at our school for all students in grades 3-6. The presenter was excellent and supported all of our students with information about growing up with healthy, confident and safe bodies. Paddy told me that she was incredibly impressed with the behaviour of our students and their excellent questions. Thank you for your support at home for this Health program.

Our sign-language classes are continuing on Tuesdays at 3.10pm in the library. Our students, especially those in P/1 Porte are really developing their sign language skills and it’s great to see Auslan (Australian sign language) being used by students. Lana Story has become very proficient in her use of Auslan to support learning in our school.

The vast majority of our Grade 6 students have participated in their orientation day at Rose Bay High School this week. This is an exciting time for our 2017 graduates. Our expectations of their behaviour as school leaders over the next two weeks are high. We are celebrating their achievements with a number of invitational activities such as the Leavers Dinner, Governor’s Christmas Party and the School Picnic.

All teachers are now into compiling assessments and evidence to support the end of year reports for students. It is a time of the year when the work load increases enormously and staff are working many long hours of extra time. Along with reports, staff are also planning for 2018 and running special activities and events for their classes and the whole school. I would like to thank the staff, and express my gratitude and appreciation for the extra work that the whole team puts in during Term 4. You are amazing!

I am always here to listen, to help problem solve and to work with members of our school community. It is a job I love and one that I do with all my heart in the interests of our school’s children. Thank you for sharing your celebrations and challenges with us. We all grow together.

Regards, Libby

Hi 5 Awards presented at assembly November 27th

Hi 5 Awards presented at assembly December 4th

Green card Rewards presented December 4th

Home Reading Certificates presented at Assembly

Home Reading

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

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

Word of the Week

Word of the week:
Christmas

What does Christmas mean?

A short history of Christmas

In 2014, the notion of ‘Christmas’ means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Traditionally, Christmas is a religious holiday to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, and many people still choose to attend Church services at this time of year.

The Christmas Day many Australian's know today, with family celebrations, carols, and gift-giving, was largely influenced by the novelist Charles Dickens when he wrote and published the novella A Christmas Carol in 1843.

Some ways Christmas is celebrated today include

• Gift giving/Christmas cards
• Church celebrations and services
• Music/carolling – Carols by Candlelight
• Various decorations, including Christmas trees, baubles, tinsel, lights, candles, nativity scenes, garlands, wreaths, holly and mistletoe
• Santa Claus/Father Christmas/Saint Nicholas etc.
• Christmas stories/poems
• Christmas feasts

A Summertime Christmas

• Christmas in Australia falls in the summer, and it’s not unusual for the 25th of December to be very hot in most parts of the country, including in the West. As such, a lot of people spend Christmas at the beach, by a pool, or picnicking on the banks of a river.
• Sometimes, though, snow falls in Western Australia - just not the type of snow you might expect to see in colder climes!
• Christmas Feasting
• For many, a Western Australian Christmas lunch or dinner isn’t complete without the opportunity to feast on a spread of seafood, especially prawns and oysters, and roast meat.
• Dessert is also an important affair, with an abundance of trifles, puddings, pavlovas, rum balls and mince pies adorning groaning tables across the state (and the country!)
• Game, Set, Match!
• Sport plays a big role on Christmas Day for a lot of people. What better way to work off that big Christmas lunch? Family and friends will often gather to play a game of cricket, tennis or football - if it's not too hot that is!
• The Gift of Giving
• Christmas time is also an important time for charities. As well as gathering donations, charities also recieve an abundance of volunteers willing to give their time to those in need, perhaps helping to prepare meals for the homeless, or wrap gifts for those who otherwise might not receive any.
• Lit up like a Christmas Tree
• Another way Christmas cheer is spread is through Christmas light competitions, and some people take this very seriously!
• Sometimes, entire streets and neighbourhoods will come together to create a Christmas wonderland of coloured flashing lights, garden ornaments in the shape of sleighs and reindeer, blow-up Santa’s and snowmen, fake snow, and singing angels. And, of course, strategically opened curtains often reveal a magnificent Christmas tree to top off this festival of lights.
• Festival Time
• Speaking of festivals, Christmas festivals are a hot-ticket item on many family to-do lists at this special time of year. For example, the Perth City Festival of Christmas offers myriad family-friendly events and activities throughout the Christmas season.

What does Christmas mean to you?

Youtube clips

Louis York - What Does Christmas Mean?

What Is Christmas All About? | A Charlie Brown Christmas

Reindeer antlers pdf

Nursery Rhyme
Jingle Bells

Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bobtail ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight!

[Chorus]

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

[Version 2]
A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon, Miss Fanny Bright
Was seated by my side,
The horse was lean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot
He got into a drifted bank
And then we got upsot.

[Chorus]

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

[Version 3]
A day or two ago,
The story I must tell
I went out on the snow,
And on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by
In a one-horse open sleigh,
He laughed as there I sprawling lie,
But quickly drove away.

[Chorus]

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

[Version 4]
Now the ground is white
Go it while you're young,
Take the girls tonight
and sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bobtailed?bay
Two forty as his speed
Hitch him to an open sleigh
And crack! you'll take the lead.

[Chorus]

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

News from the Garden

News from the Kitchen

Bush Damper

Equipment: large mixing bowl, mixing spoon, measuring cups, measuring spoons, measuring jug for milk, spray oil, 1 x baking tray , wire racks

3 cups self raising flour
1 Tablespoon ground wattleseed
¼ teaspoon ground lemon myrtle leaves
¼ teaspoon ground mountain pepper berry
300ml milk
2 Tablespoon sunflower oil
1 teaspoon salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Spray oil on baking tray.
2. Measure the flour, wattle seed, lemon myrtle, pepper berry and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the milk and oil into the well. Mix quickly and lightly to a soft dough.
3. Turn onto a floured board and knead until smooth.
4. Shape into 10-12 rolls and place on a lightly oiled baking tray.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes (it will sound hollow when tapped).

News from the School Office

A REMINDER THAT Grade 6 leaver’s dinner payment of $15 needs to be paid this week. The School Association is subsididing this activity from monies raised.as full cost was $28

THERE WILL BE NO MORE SCHOOL BANKING THIS YEAR. THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED DURING 2017.

News from the School Association

Please return tickets through the School office ASAP

Carols around and in our community

Carols in Richmond

maree_mcculloch@bigpond.com

Clarence Christmas Concert

South Arm Carols by Candle Light

jenny.gardener@education.tas.gov.au

Risdon Vale Carols

rvncanne@bigpond.com

Carols Under the Stars

laura@abundant.org.au

adrianbeach301277@hotmail.com

Calendar of Up-Coming Events