BERWICK LODGE PRIMARY SCHOOL Phone: 9707 1766 Fax: 9796 2198 E-mail: berwick.lodge.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Visit our Websites : http:// www.berwicklodgeps.vic.edu.au, Camp Australia/Out of School Hours Care: 9769 8251
NEWSLETTER N0.28
15TH SEPTEMBER 2011 NOTICES DUE BACK BY
DIARY DATES Monday 19th September Tuesday 20th September Wednesday 21st September Thursday 22nd September Tuesday 10th October Wednesday 11th October Friday 14th October
Film Festival 2nd Hand Uniform 2:30pm Hot Dog Day Clover Cottage Dinner Prep Life Education Visit Pie Drive Pick Up Indonesian Food Festival 5/6 Family Life Program 5/6 Family Life Program 5/6 Interschool Summer Sport
Thursday 15th September Pie Drive Monday 19th September Indonesian Food Festival Tuesday 20th October Interschool Summer Sport Wednesday 21st September 5/6 Family Life Program Thursday 13th October PFA Meeting Thursday 20th October Shopping Tour
Friday 23rd September 2011 2:30pm Finish Monday 10th October 2011 Term 4 Start
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT SCHOOL SPECIALISATION GRANTS Our state government has released details for school specialisation grants as the first step in their $2.5 million two year program that will see 25 one-off grants to government schools to specialise in a field of their choice; such as languages, maths, science, robotics, multimedia, fashion design or horticulture. These grants are open to all primary and secondary government schools in Victoria and with more than 1,500 schools, potentially, competing for 25 grants over two years, competition will certainly be hot. We are very interested in applying for one of these grants – multimedia specialism would be our area of interest, given our 10 year experience with radio, more recent involvement with our ICT LEEP program, international skyping, internet-based debating, current film making and plans for the development of our TV/film centre. Our ISO 9001 Quality Management System, unique in Australian government schools provides us with an excellent organisational platform to implement sustainable change in our school – an important criteria
for success with becoming a specialism school. Importantly, becoming a specialism school does not mean that the other areas of the curriculum are thrown out or neglected – far from it. UPDATE ON SCHOOL CROSSING SUPERVISION AT END OF TERMS We have received further notification from the City of Casey that they will not be providing crossing supervisors at 1.30pm on the last day of term 4. They are sticking with their 2.30pm schedule. This means that our students will definitely be dismissed at 2.30pm at the end of term 3 and term 4. EARLY ARRIVALS AT SCHOOL It has been brought to my attention that a small number of children are arriving at school as early as 8.00am but are not enrolled at the Before School Care program. This is not acceptable. We provide playground supervision from 8.45am to 9.00am
before school and children who do not attend the Before School program should not arrive at school much before that time. Please enrol your child at our Before School Care program if you need to have them come to school early in the morning – it opens at 6.45am. DEALING WITH BULLYING Sadly, bullying has been a feature of human behaviour since time began. For whatever biological and environmental reasons, we have never been able to eradicate it from our behaviour. This of course means that from time to time all schools, ours included, is confronted with the unpalatable evidence of children being the victims of bullying. As a child I both witnessed and experienced bullying. I wish I hadn‟t but I did. I also see bullying behaviour in adults from time to time. Continued...
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT CONTINUED… The impact of this has only served to strengthen my resolve to do my very best to minimise the level of bullying at our school. My advice to children and parents is quite simple. Don‟t let a bully get away with it. Bullying must be reported. That is a given. From my experience, bullies are more often than not cowards to boot. They fear nothing more than being exposed for what they are, and will go to extreme lengths to ensure that their victims are so scared of them they won‟t report them. My starting point for action is to appeal to children and parents to inform us of any concerns over bullying. If we don‟t know about it, then it is so much harder to do anything about it. Fortunately bullying behaviour is not the norm at our school. Nonetheless, it does sometimes happen. Give us the chance to deal with it always. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ‟s) Q. Why have you stayed at Berwick Lodge Primary School for so long? A.The short answer is that as with so many things in life, it was not planned that way. Looking back, there are a number of reasons - suffice to say, I have no regrets and being the principal of our school for more than two decades has been a highlight of my life. QUOTABLE QUOTE ‘The innocence of the young haunts many of the old’
HENRY GROSSEK SCHOOL AWARDS
Congratulations to the following students who received awards over the last week: Zubair PW Ajay PM
Tanis PM Stevan PW
2nd INSTALMENT EMA CHEQUES ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR COLLECTION FROM THE OFFICE. Please bring photo ID with you when collecting your cheque.
SCHOOL BANKING Ryan PW
Kayjen PC
Due to popular demand, the “Pat The Dog” money box is currently unavailable. The Commonwealth Bank will be sending all back orders to the school as soon as they are available.
Sharn PC
HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER? Please ensure you let the school office know if you have changed address or updated mobile phones with new numbers. This information alleviates stressful situations on students when they are ill and we cannot contact parents
A S S I S TA N T P R I N C I PA L S ’ R E P O RT WARATAH BAY CAMP Last week our Year 3 and 4 students, staff and parent helpers had a wonderful three days at Waratah Bay Camp. The feedback from their time away was excellent with high praise for student behaviour and participation in all activities. The children and adults were very happy but very tired after their time away. Such camps provide a great opportunity for teachers and students to learn more about each other outside of the regular school environment. Thank you to the staff and parent helpers for their support with the organisation and supervision of students. Well done!
Awards‟ which will be presented at both screenings. We will also be featuring the J-Rock performance, „Beautiful Monster‟. Tickets may be purchased by phoning the theatre directly on (03) 9771 6666 or can be ordered on the internet at www.drumtheatre.com.au/
will be sent home tomorrow with students in Years 3 and 5 who participated in the testing program. A flyer providing parents with information on how to interpret the report will be included with each child‟s report. It is important for families to remember that these results reflect each student‟s performance at a single point in PFA CLOVER COTTAGE time only and should be FUNDRAISER considered in Next Wednesday night st conjunction (21 September 2011) the PFA are holding their Clover Cottage with the reports Fundraiser. The evening promises to be a great night with provided by classroom numerous opportunities for teachers. If those in attendance to come parents have any queries away with regarding their child‟s NAPLAN some fantastic report they are encouraged to raffle prizes. meet with the child‟s class We have had teacher for clarification. BERWICK LODGE FILM the pleasure of attending FESTIVAL some of these Our Year 5 and 6 students, evenings in the past and have together with the teachers, are LYNNE BRENNER always found them to be most excitedly looking forward to enjoyable and excellent value for Monday night‟s second annual AND money. There are some tickets Berwick Lodge Primary School DEBBIE CUSACK still available ($50 per head) if Film Festival. This festival will showcase the Year 6 short films you would like to attend. Our hardworking PFA would greatly and the Year 5 photo stories which the students have devoted appreciate your support! a great deal of time and effort NAPLAN (National into creating over the past few weeks. Assessment Program – We look forward Literacy and Numeracy) to seeing the Earlier this year students in students walk the Years 3 and 5 sat the NAPLAN red carpet and assessment tasks in Literacy and wish them luck Numeracy. The NAPLAN 2011 for the „Lodgie Parent Reports have arrived and
Enrolments for 2012 are now being accepted! Enrolment forms are available from the school office. Original birth certificates and immunisation certificates need to be sighted by the office at the time of enrolment.
SCHOOL COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S REPORT Welcome everyone to my School Council President‟s Report. SCHOOL COUNCILLOR PROFILES This week is our last, but certainly not least, school council profile. I am pleased to introduce our principal Henry Grossek. Henry Grossek: I was born in Germany and migrated with my parents (Polish & German) to Australia in the early 1950's. I grew up in Warragul, the eldest of five children and enjoyed the country life as a child. I have two grown up children, Carly and Paul and a lovely one-year-old grand daughter, Chloe. Debbie, my wife and I live in Wantirna. Sport and education have always been a major part of my life - cricket, football, soccer, tennis and mixed netball were very much a part of my playing and coaching life for many decades in total. The importance of education was drummed into me from an early age by my parents - completing three university degrees, including a Master of Educational Administration. I have had the privilege of teaching in all sectors of our education system - primary, secondary and university. I began my teaching career as the principal of Neerim North P.S., a small rural school in West Gippsland. I was a classroom and specialist teacher for 15 years and have been a principal for a total of 26 years, in three different schools - the past 21 as the proud founding principal of our great school. My hobbies include creative writing, chess, politics, radio presenting, travelling and theatre and, I almost forgot - supporting the Magpies! SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING UPDATE It was a long but very interesting school council meeting that was held on Monday night. Some of the items that we discussed I have noted below for your interest. “BER” Projects: Our new building is nearly finished and ready to hand over. The new fences have been erected and the landscaping works (including leveling and retaining walls) has commenced. We have also lodged our request with the DEECD to spend our additional $50,000 from the BER Taskforce on inside blinds for the building and additional joinery/storage for the classrooms and library. Planning has begun on our companion project, which is the internal refurbishment of part of our main building including the administration and library block. As there will be changes to the front of our building, we may need to relocate our main office once building commences. We will keep you informed as the project progresses. This new project is scheduled for completion by 30 th June 2012. Acceptable Food Guidelines: It was raised at council about what is or isn‟t acceptable with regard to the use of food at school. Areas of discussion included food in our curriculum, canteen vouchers, vouchers from sponsors of events (eg: McDonalds Hooptime), voucher offers from other organizations, sale of food at school. It was felt that since there was a lot of information to gather, our Learning Environment Sub-Committee would put together a list of recommendations about food at school. These will become the Acceptable Food Guidelines and will adhere to DEECD policy. It is anticipated that it will take between 4-6 months to get these new guidelines established and published. School Fees: After much discussion, our school fee structure has been decided on for next year. Our 2012 fees will be split into two areas. The first is required payment for Essential Education Items. These fees for next year will have a discount arrangement. If fees are paid before certain cut off dates then certain discounts will apply. The second area is Voluntary Contributions. Your Voluntary Contributions will be able to be directed to a few different areas including Building Fund (to assist with refurbishment and maintenance of existing buildings), Grounds Maintenance, Playground Maintenance, and First Aid Officer. Those families that make a voluntary contribution will be recognized. Singapore School Visit: Lynne Brenner and Debbie Cusack delivered a report on the trip to Singapore by 12 of our Grade 5 and 6 students along with Lynne, Debbie, Lois Smethurst and Paul Whitehead. From the report it was obvious that our 12 students represented Berwick Lodge Primary School with great distinction and that both staff and students had a fantastic time both at school (they visited our sister school in Singapore – Tampines Primary School) and as tourists. Highlights included Singapore Flyer, Breakfast with the Orangutans at Singapore Zoo, shopping at Singapore markets, boat tour of Singapore River and the trip to Sentosa Island. It is hoped that Tampines Primary School may come to visit us next year and we are anticipating returning to Singapore and Tampines Primary School in 2013.
As school council president, I am very interested in any comments that our parent community has to offer. If you wish to discuss one of the items I have mentioned above or any other issue, please feel free to contact me directly or any one of the school council team. We look forward to hearing from you. I can be contacted via the school office or you can email me on norton.jodie.j@edumail.vic.gov.au
Jodie Norton School Council President
SCHOOL COUNCIL DIRECTORY President: Vice-President: Minute Secretary: Correspondence Sec.:
Jodie Norton Michelle Sarjeant Lois Smethurst Michael Tabone
Principal: DEECD Members:
Henry Grossek Lynne Brenner Sue Naismith
Parent Members:
Prashad Sujenthiran Craig Benedick Carolyn Mehr
PFA Co-Optee:
Samantha Cline
Contact Details: Phone: 9707 1766 Email: norton.jodie.j@edumail.vic.gov.au
Lesley Lees Fax: 9796 2198
2011 Premier‟s Reading Challenge Congratulations to all students participating in this year‟s challenge. It is great to see so many enthusiastic readers eagerly borrowing books from the recommended booklists. Don‟t forget to let your teachers know when you have completed a book so it can be verified on the Premier‟s Reading Challenge website by a coordinator. All books must be entered online and verified by Friday 16th September 2011. Congratulations to the following students who have completed the 2011 Premier’s Reading Challenge. Troy N 6N Jake O 6N Vanessa J 6N Caleb M 6N Keely P 6N Hannah E 6N Hannah N 6N Katie M 6N Jery B 6N Sarah K 6P
Happy Reading!
Bernadette Kelly
Nithiya P 6P Liam W 6P Jordie W 6P Liam A 6P Tom N 6P Lachlan R 6P Zahra K 5W Laura M 4L Brodie B 4L Madi H 4L
Book Character Dress-Up Day On Friday 2nd September 2011 Berwick Lodge Primary School held their „Book Character Dress-Up Day‟ to help celebrate Book Week and Literacy Week. Unfortunately I was not able to be at school on this day due to illness, however all the staff have told me since what a wonderful day it was and how much fun all the boys and girls had. A BIG congratulations to everyone who went to the effort of designing their costume and dressing up on the day! I would also like to acknowledge the support of Debbie Cusack who helped coordinate the event on the day and Nick Pryor who was our MC for the character parade on the basketball courts. The total amount raised in gold coin donations was an amazing $459.40! This money will greatly help our two Asian schools. The following students were awarded „best dressed‟ by their classroom teachers and each received a Smiggle prize pack: Jai B PM Hayley C Zac V PW Ashan G PC Simone H 1K
Bella P 1C
Cody B 1K Emily C 1M
Kieran W 2B
Alex K 1J
Mikayla G 2F
Angus B 3B
Leah H 2G
Taylah R 2Z
Xander J 2Z Rahni D 3M
Amy R 3D
Tanisha D 4DR
Gemma O 3K Ruby M 4R
Zoe D 4S Cole C 5C Isabelle V 5T
Struan A 5W Bella J 6K
Nicole T 6P Many smiles and thanks
Miss Sarah Vine
Teagin M 6N Maddy B 6P
Ben J 4L Chelsea B 5H
2011 BERWICK LODGE FILM FESTIVAL and J-ROCK PERFORMANCE Looking for a sensational family night out??? Well we have the answer for you!! The Grade 5 and 6 children have been busy writing, filming and creating super short films and photo stories this term and we would like to invite our whole school community to the Berwick Lodge Primary School Film Festival on Monday 19th September 2011. This fantastic night will include a special performance of our star J-Rock cast as a special bonus. Invite your family and friends to a very special night and travel down the red carpet of the Drum Theatre in Dandenong for a night you will not forget! WHEN: Monday 19th September 2011 WHERE: The Drum Theatre, Dandenong Town Hall, 226 Lonsdale St Dandenong (Melways reference 91A E7) TIMES: First screening – 5pm for a 5.30pm screening (finishing around 7.15pm) Second screening – 7.45pm for a 8.15pm screening (finishing around 10pm) TICKETS – available ONLY at the Drum Theatre Either by phoning the theatre directly on (03) 9771 6666, attending the theatre personally or ordering over the internet (http://www.drumtheatre.com.au/) and following the links. $10.00 – primary school aged children $12.00 - concession card holders (pensioners, health care cards, seniors cards etc) $ 16.00 – adults and secondary school students. Get in quickly for the best seats available as tickets will sell fast.
BLOSHC NEWS School Name
OSHC
Coordinator: Dorien Erasmus
Last day of School Don’t forget to book your child in for the last day of term on Friday 23 rd September 2011. The program will run from 2.30pm – 6.30pm. Hope to see a few new faces! Holiday Club Let Camp Australia make your kids smile these holidays. Please visit www.campaustralia.com.au to book online for the holiday program at Berwick Fields and join in the fun and excursions planned for the holiday. Register Online Visit our website to register www.campaustralia.com.au. Once registered you can make bookings and cancellations, view your statements and manage your details anytime of the day online. Before school care: 6:45am – 8:45am
After school care:
3.30pm – 6.30pm
Star of the week: Natalia N PL: For listening to instructions and being kind to her friends. WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK Creative Critters AFTER SCHOOL CARE
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Origami
Scratch Magic Stickers
Keyring
Paper Bag Puppets
Create your own puzzle
Parents & Friends Association NEXT MEETING: Thursday 13th October 2011 at 1.30pm in Room 16. Everyone is welcome, including toddlers. 2ND HAND UNIFORM SHOP: Our next 2nd hand uniform shop will be open in the school canteen on Tuesday 20th September 2011 from 2.30pm until 3.15pm.
CLOVER COTTAGE LAST CHANCE TO BUT YOUR TICKETS FOR CLOVER COTTAGE. Tickets are selling out fast for this fantastic night but there are still a few available for purchase. We hope everyone who bought tickets to our amazing night at Clover Cottage is getting excited!! This is a perfect opportunity to indulge in some „child free time‟ and catch up with friends over a delicious three course meal (not to mention the fully licensed bar!) If you have a preference for seating please leave a note at the front office to be passed onto the PFA. PFA CAFÉ: Is open on Thursday afternoon‟s from 2.45pm in Room 16, next to the grade two portables. If you arrive at school early to get a car park close by, or you want to come and keep warm, please come and visit us and enjoy a hot drink for a gold coin donation.
Current Events PIE & SLICE DRIVE: Forms are due back on Thursday 15th September 2011. Pies can be collected on Thursday 22nd September 2011 from the canteen after 2:30pm. HOT DOG DAY: Any parents that can help on the day to support our school, would be greatly appreciated. It is a great opportunity to support your school community.
SUPERMARKET VOUCHERS: A huge thank you to everyone who is sending in their Coles and Safeway Vouchers. Keep collecting as the more Sports for School Vouchers/Earn and Learn Points we have the more sports equipment and educational resources our children can utilise. PAUL‟S CAPS: The Junior School Council are collecting the Paul‟s Caps to raise money for our sponsor children Pheear and Oshdi in Cambodia and Sri Lanka. Money raised will go towards education and school supplies, building materials for new classrooms and clean, safe drinking water.
BUSINESS ADVERTISING
CRYSTAL CLEANING SERVICES P/L For all your carpet/upholstery and general cleaning needs Special Offer 3 rooms/3 seats Professionally steamed cleaned for $77.00 incl. GST Free deodorising Free stain treating Other services: Vacate clean-up/ready for sale For bookings & enquiries contact Steve 0411 752 279
$1.00 from each booking goes back to BLPS. Plus $1.00 to Royal Children's Hospital
COMMUNITY NEWS Yarra Valley Railway Presents Healesville Railway Heritage Festival
Saturday Sept 24 and Sunday Sept 25 Steam Road Engines Working Black Wood Turning Spinners & Weavers Historic Railmotor Vintage Cars, Trucks, Fire Engines & Buses & Much More
SCHOOL HOLIDAY RIDES Hourly 10am. – 4pm. Sundays and Wednesdays Opening Dates – Sept 28, Oct 2, 5, 9 For more information visit our website at
yvr.com.au
COMMUNITY NEWS Moonlit Sanctuary Easter School Holidays Young Ranger Program Environmental Activities, Native Animal Care, Fun and Games during July 2011.
Monday 4th, Wednesday 6th, Friday 8th, Monday 11th, Wednesday 13th Friday 15th July Cost: $39.00 per day, or $105 for 3 days. Bookings essential - suitable 8-14 years. Hours: 10AM – 3PM Wear closed-toe shoes and long pants and remember your hat. Lunches: BYO or available for $7.50
Moonlit Sanctuary 550 Tyabb-Tooradin Rd, Pearcedale Ph. 5978-7935 Web: www.moonlit-sanctuary.com
Open daily between 10am and 5pm
Advertisements published by the school are accepted in good faith and should not be regarded as an endorsement of any product or service. Parents and members of the school community are advised to investigate any service or product to determine its suitability to meet their family's needs prior to accessing it.