BERWICK LODGE PRIMARY SCHOOL Phone: 9707 1766 Fax: 9796 2198 Email: berwick.lodge.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Visit our Websites : www.berwicklodgeps.vic.edu.au, http://berwicklodgeps.globalteacher.org.au
18TH FEBRUARY 2010
NEWSLETTER N0.03 DIARY DATES Tuesday 23 February Wednesday 24th February Thursday 25th February Friday 26th February Wednesday 3rd March Tuesday 23rd March
NOTICES DUE BACK BY Meet the teacher night 3:00pm-6:00pm Meet the teacher night 3:00pm-6:00pm and 6:30pm-8:00pm School Photos School Photos PFA Meeting 9.30am OSHC building Second Hand Uniform 2.30pm-3.15pm
Monday 22nd February Tuesday 23rd February Friday 26th February Friday 5th March
Gr 1/2 Water Awareness District swimming EMA applications close Preps Amy's Amazing Adventure
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTIONS CALL FOR NOMINATIONS Following on from my message on school council elections in last week’s newsletter, as Returning Officer, I am formally declaring our 2010 School Council election process open. We have a total of five (5) Parent Representative Category vacancies and one (1) DEECD Representative category vacancy to be filled. In addition to the four retiring parent members I announced in last week’s newsletter, Lucienne Stewart, our current president, informed me during the week that she is also retiring due to personal reasons. Lucienne’s position is for one year as she has already served one of her two year tenure. The other four parent category vacancies are for tenures of two years. Parents retiring from school council are: Stephen Rowe, David Allman, Andrew Loewe, Ellen McDonald and Lucienne Stewart. Nominations for election to school council to fill these positions are now invited from our parent community. Nomination forms are available on request from our general office. Please note parents can be nominated either by themselves or by another parent member of our school community. In the event that a parent member of our school
community wishes to nominate another parent for election to school council, then the parent being nominated must give their signed consent on the nomination form. DEECD member retiring from school council is: Gloria Knight This is a two year position and nominations to fill this position are now invited from our DEECD members, either by self-nomination or by another DEECD member of our school, subject to the nominee’s signed approval. TIMEFRAME FOR ELECTIONS (1) Friday 19th February: Call for Nominations (2) Friday 26th February: Nominations Close (3) Friday 5th March: Ballot Papers distributed in event of election being required (4) Friday 12th March: Counting of Ballot Papers and Declaring Poll (5) Monday 22nd March: First & Second Council Meetings after the Poll PLEASE NOTE: a ballot will only be called if we receive more nominations than vacancies in either category. In the event that we receive the same number of nominations as there are vacancies, then as returning Officer, I will declare all those people nominated, duly elected.
Please consider nomination for council as school council is a most important decision-making body of our school and a great way to contribute to, and learn about school education. Call me or drop in for a chat should you wish to discuss any aspect of school council participation or the election process further. Nomination forms are available at the office and close on Friday 26th February. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ’s) Q. What should I do if I have concerns about the behaviour of adults in the vicinity of our school on school days? A. The short answer is - please inform us at the school (we handle these issues in strictest confidence). That’s a very good starting point. Depending on the nature of your concern, we will advise you of an appropriate course of action. Sometimes this will entail our direct involvement in the matter, other times it may lead to a police report or sometimes there will be no need for further action. It all depends on the circumstances surrounding the specific incident or issue of initial concern. QUOTABLE QUOTE ‘Credit without blame – that’s one barometer of longevity in politics.’ HENRY GROSSEK
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’ S REPORT MEET THE TEACHER NIGHTS A reminder to parents to look out for the appointment times being sent home with the youngest child tomorrow (Friday 19th February) If you are unable to make your appointed time please let the relevant teachers know so that they can reschedule a suitable alternate time with you. All of our staff are looking forward to meeting the parents of their students.
SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS Schoolpix will be visiting our school on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th of February for our annual school photos. On Thursday they will be taking the class and individual photos and on Friday the family photos, school leaders and swimming team will be photographed.
In preparing for the photos students are requested to wear uniform or school colors, if possible, with their hair swept off their face. Families are advised to SUPERVISION OF STUDENTS complete their order envelopes and BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL Recently with the fine weather we have return them to school by the photography day. Preordering may be noticed that many of our students are completed online through the website arriving at school very early and remaining in the school grounds until late (www.schoolpix.com.au ) using your personal Order and ID Numbers which in the afternoon. Parents are can be found on your order envelope. reminded that the yard is supervised by staff between 8:45 and 9:00am in the morning and 3:30 and 3:45pm after school. Students in the playground outside of these times are at risk. If it is necessary for children to be at school either early or late, then parents should consider enrolment in the OSHC Program or make other arrangements.
HEAD LICE Recently we have had several reports from families of head lice and eggs found in children’s hair. While we realise that families are busy, we would appreciate the support of every family in checking and, if necessary, treating their children for head lice. To be successful in controlling the head lice problem, every family would need Children are welcome to play on their allocated playground when they arrive at to commit some time to: · Check their children’s hair school in the morning, or if they are weekly waiting to be picked up after school. · If any live lice are found, treat They should not be playing on the immediately (complete follow playgrounds of other levels unless their up checks and treatment) parents are supervising them. · If any eggs are found, apply lots In the coming weeks we will be taking of conditioner, and patiently note of students who regularly arrive at remove all eggs school early in the morning and parents If every family is diligent in this exercise will be contacted to discuss and resolve we would be able to break the head lice this issue. If for any reason your child cycle at school. We thank you in has not been picked up by 3:45pm they advance for your cooperation. will be directed to the front office area At school we will continue to conduct where they must wait until they are head lice checks and contact families of collected. These measures are not children with live lice to advise them of meant to cause any inconvenience. They the need to collect their children and are for the safety and security of all of commence immediate treatment. our students. Parents of students found to have eggs will be notified of the need to continue treatment. We also appreciate
notification of lice infestations as this assists us in targeting head lice checks at particular classes or year levels. STUDENT WELLBEING NEWS KIMOCHIS We recently had a visit from a representative introducing ‘Kimochis’ to our staff as a resource for teaching students how to understand their emotions. The Kimochis are a collection of soft plush toy characters that represent different emotions and can be utilised by teachers and counsellors in working in a range of situations where it is important for children to identify how they feel emotionally. Currently our prep teachers are trialling the use of Kimochis in their classrooms. Other areas will be given the opportunity to explore the potential for this resource to be used in enhancing students’ emotional intelligence. The Kimochis were introduced at School Council this week and the response from those in attendance was very positive. A poster of the Kimochis has been displayed at the front entrance to the office area of the school. CURRICULUM NEWS The Prep Team are enjoying the opportunity to utilise their new interactive whiteboards as a learning tool in their classroom. They have been creating short video clips of each child explaining why they are special. This has assisted students to become familiar with their classmates and learn about acceptance of similarities and differences. This task has also allowed the teachers to observe the speaking and listening skills of each student. The children are developing confidence as they watch themselves on the big screens. Families will have an opportunity to see these clips and add their own perspectives of their child when we have our Open Night in May.
LYNNE BRENNER & DEBBIE CUSACK
Auditions are now open for “Shine On” – Victorian State Schools Spectacular 2010 Solo Vocalists, Musicians, Dancers The Victorian State Schools Spectacular offers outstanding opportunities for individual singers, dancers and musicians. The Victorian State Schools Spectacular is one of the State’s premier performing arts events and one of the largest and most spectacular recurring productions in Australia. Students from across Victoria, aged from Grade 5 to year 12, will once again have the opportunity to perform at Hisense Arena, Melbourne Park, alongside a cast of thousands, in a collaborative competition-free environment. If there are any students interested in auditioning for ‘Spectacular 2010’ please call (03) 94151700. If you are interested in auditioning for Dance please be quick to call this number as auditions are on Saturday 20 th February in Collingwood. If there are any questions please feel free to ask Miss Giaccotto.
EMA NEWS
PFA NEWS
The EMA application must be submitted to the school by 26 February 2010 . The EMA provides an annual amount of $225 for primary students. This amount is split evenly between the parents/ guardians and the school. Parents with continuing eligibility, who are paid the first instalment in March 2010 through this school will not be required to complete a new application for the second instalment. Parents who transfer children to another school after 26 February 2010 and prior to or on 6 August 2010, must reapply at the new school for the second instalment .
The PFA is thrilled to announce that last year we made $32000.00 with contributions made via the fundraising activaties through the school: eg Mothers and Fathers Day Stalls, Chocolate drive raffle and school carnival. The monies raised has been put towards installing smarts boards in the Preps and Grade 5 classrooms. So we would like to say a BIG thankyou to all who have participated in our fundraising. If there are any families that would like to contribute any voucher, or work companies that can donate items for fundraising, please leave your details at the front office. Many thanks again and if you are interested in joining the PFA our next meeting is Wednesday 3rd March at 9.30am in the OSHC building. Toddlers/babies are welcome Michelle Sarjeant President PFA On behalf of all superstars mums and dads on the PFA team
PHYS ED NEWS Welcome back to everyone, I hope you all had a great holiday and a very relaxing break. Last Friday the 12th February 69 students from grades 3-6 tried out for our Berwick Lodge Primary School District Swimming Team. I was extremely proud of all the children on the day, firstly for putting their hand up to have a go and secondly for their determination to personally succeed and complete the 50 meters. Each and every-one of the children were very well behaved and were an absolute pleasure to take to Casey Arc for the day. The day could not have gone off as smoothly as it did without the continual and dedicated support from our parents. I would like to say a HUGE thankyou firstly to LISA BRYAN, LYNN HOOK and PAUL MORRISH who not only travelled on the bus with the children and myself but, also provided fabulous encouragement and supervision to all the children throughout the day. I would like to say a VERY LARGE THANKYOU to Mrs Casciannelli and all the parents who came on the day and assisted with supervision, timing and overall encouragement to the children, without these parents the day would not have been such a success. After a very successful and friendly competition the following students have been chosen to represent BLPS at the
Edwin Flack District Swimming competition on Tuesday 2nd March at Doveton Pool in the Park. WELL DONE & CONGRATULATIONS TO...... Billy 3/4K: 9/10yr Backstroke, 9/10yr Breaststroke, Boy’s Open Medley Relay & 9/10yr Freestyle Relay Catherine 4DR: 9/10yr Butterfly, 9/10yr Breaststroke, Girl’s Open Medley Relay & 9/10yr Freestyle Relay Ethan 5/6N: 11yr Backstroke, 11yr Breaststroke, 11yr Boy’s Open Medley Relay & 11yr Freestyle Relay Maddison 5L: 11yr Backstroke, 11yr Breaststroke, Girl’s Open Medley Relay & 11yr Freestyle Relay Jack 6P: 12/13yr Breaststroke, 12/13yr Butterfly, Boy’s Open Medley Relay & 12/13yr Freestyle Relay Amy 6W: 12/13yr Breaststroke, 12/13yr Butterfly, Girl’s Open Medley Relay & 12/13yr Freestyle Relay Aaron 4DR: 9/10yr Butterfly & 9/10yr Freestyle Relay Jake 4M: 9/10yr Freestyle & 9/10yr Freestyle Relay Jemma I 4S: 9/10yr Freestyle, 9/10yr Backstroke & 9/10yr Freestyle Relay Josh 4DR: 9/10yr Freestyle Relay Leida 5J: 9/10yr Freestyle Relay Hannah 5J: 9/10yr Freestyle Relay Alannah l 6P: 11yr Freestyle Relay Shannon 5E: 11yr Butterfly & 11yr Freestyle Relay
Ben 4M: 11yr Freestyle & 11yr Freestyle Relay Courtney 5L: 11yr Freestyle 11yr Butterfly & 11yr Freestyle Relay Daniel 5/6N: 11yr Freestyle Relay Keely 5L: 11yr Freestyle Relay Alice 6P: 12/13 Freestyle Relay Bailey 6C: 12/13yr Freestyle, Boy’s Open Medley Relay & 12/13yr Freestyle Relay Emma 5/6N: 12/13yr Freestyle & 12/13yr Freestyle Relay Lucas 6W: 12/13 yr Freestyle Relay Matilda 6W: 12/13yr Backstroke & Girl’s Open Medley Relay Monique 6C: 12/13yr Freestyle Relay Adam 6W: 12/13yr Backstroke & 12/13yr Freestyle Relay Once again well done to the children for trying out for the District Swimming I am very proud of you all. Keep up the hard work and continue training for next year’s competitionJ Good-luck to all the students above and remember to keep training, refining those strokes and beating those times in preparation for District. Thanks once more to all the fabulous parents for their continual support and encouragement. Also just a note to students that House Athletics day will be on the 18th March so mark it in your diaries! Amy Carlile Physical Education
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