Newsletter 1 - Belle Vue Park Primary School



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Literacy……..

READ with your child EVERY DAY …

the more you read the smarter you get!

THURSDAY August 9th, 2018

NEWSLETTER Issue 12

Hi everyone,

I hope you have had an enjoyable week. There are lots of great things happening across the school at the moment and lots of great learning and fun activities organized right up to the end of the term.

Request for Art pieces

Recently we hosted visits to our school from Bruce Armstrong and Sue Buckley. Bruce and Sue are the two highest ranking leaders in the Victorian Department of Education and Training (D.E.T.) As they toured the school they were very impressed with all the fantastic art pieces our students have created which are on display around the school. They have asked if it would be possible for Fay and our students to create some pieces that they can display in their offices in Treasury Place in the city. A lovely compliment to Fay Sinclair our visual arts teacher and to the creativity of our students.

The 2018 Parent Opinion Survey -

“Your School, Your say”

The 2018 Parent Opinion Survey is available for parents to complete online from 23rd July to

26th August.

Schools are required to participate in the survey, which contributes to parent engagement and assists with school planning and improvement. If you have been asked to give your feedback please have it completed before August 26th. If you required assistance please ask Ida at the front office.

Successful Grant applications

Recently our school applied for funding for the “From Playground to Plate project”.

This is a grant through the Stephanie Alexander program. We received a grant for $5,000 to refurbish our Environmental area and establish new garden beds and refurb some of the older ones. The money will also be used to buy more plants, extra tools etc. The project will involve classes spending time in the gardens, preparing soil, planting, nurturing, harvesting the crops and then inviting some parents to come to school to cook some meals with their students. This will support the ChangeMakers strategy that we are running as one of the strategies is to involve parents and community in more aspects of our school.

Doxa Camp report

Last week we held our annul school camp to Doxa at Malsbury. Many thanks to Lucy for her great organization and to Sandra R, Sandra S, Casey V and Paul V for assisting and ensuring the camp was a huge success. We have a camp report later in this newsletter.

Playgroups kick off in term 3

This term in conjunction with Moreland Council & Merri Community Health we are offering two playgroups.

Supported Playgroup Melissa Bell Tuesdays 9:30-11:30

Refugee Playgroup

Mondays 9:30-11:30

(To participate parents need to have a Health Care card.)

|DIARY DATES |

|Whole School assembly |Monday 9:00am |

|Breakfast Club |Tues. & Wed.8:30am. |

|Calming Canines |Wednesday |

|SPARKS reading |On Fridays |

|Photography Club |Wednesday 3:20-4:00 |

|Pupil Free Day |Friday Sept 7th |

|Swimming program |Sept 3rd- 13th |

Nepalese and Mandarin speaking Play group

Our Maternal Health nurses Jeanette and Katie are planning to run playgroups here in our hub for Nepalese & Mandarin speaking families.

If you would like to join a community playgroup please call Jeanette on 93045686. You would be most welcome.

Students under the Spotlight

Students in our Foundation class have been making great progress with their independent writing and have they improved!

In “Students under the Spotlight” this week we feature Mikayla, who wrote about watching Hotel Transylvania, Amina who wrote about her dad’s birthday and Devlin who wrote about creating a world using Minecraft. Well done kids! (

Enrolments 2019

There is an obvious increase in families moving into the area and local schools are now beginning to see this growth in enrolments. We have just about reached a full class for the Foundation year already. This growth is the largest increase in numbers we have experienced for a long time.

To help with our preparation for 2019 we are requesting families who are intending to enrol their children at our school in 2019 to do so as early as possible

The Belle Vue Park Kindergarten is also filling up very quickly. Families who would like their children to attend the 3 or 4 year old kinder program need to contact Moreland Council to enroll in the Belle Vue Park Kindergarten 2019.

Apply for four-year-old kindergarten

Moreland ()Council has a Central Enrolment Scheme for 4-year-old kindergarten.

This is an agreement with most kindergartens in the Moreland area for Council to register the enrolment bookings on their behalf.

Please note that Council also has a central scheme for child care registration.

Age eligibility for kindergarten. Your child must be 4 years of age by 30 April 2019. Enrolments opened 1st March 2018. You can enrol online or download the application.

Children are only entitled to attend one funded year of 4-year-old kindergarten. If your child is having a funded second year of 4-year-old kindergarten, you need to contact Children’s Services Central Enrolment on 9240 2271 to discuss this.

Mindfulness strategy

Our Mindfulness strategy is now operating in all our classes. We are implementing a variety of different mindfulness strategies which are designed to settle, relax and support quiet concentration. These occur after recess and lunch breaks, when students change over learning activities or when the teacher needs to settle their class.

Mindfulness helps all students to learn how to calm and center themselves.

When combined with the skills we have introduced through the C.A.S.E.A. program you can see a strategic focus on supporting the social and emotional development of our students.

Our kinder program has also introduced mindfulness strategies. This all contributes to developing better interpersonal skills and positive communication.

Students learn to delay gratification through awareness of their emotional state.

Students acquire strategies to control their emotions which leads to happier, more engaged, settled students and better learning outcomes.

Added to this strategy our S.O.L.E. strategy (Self Organised Learning Environments) has a focus on “connecting emotions to learning”.

You can see why our school is such a calm, orderly place both in the classrooms and in the playground.

Solar array

This photo below shows the array of solar panels on the Junior School roof. It’s great to know that we are producing a lot of our own power now.

Online social media

Just a reminder to all our families about primary school students accessing social media such as snapchat, chatrooms etc. These are not designed for primary age students and we ask parents to ensure that their children aren’t using them. Snapchat has "Terms of Use" that needs to be read and discussed. These terms include verifying the user is at least 13 years of age and, if under age 18, they have parental permission. For more information go to:



Reading with your child

Making time to read regularly with your children is an important part of literacy development. Reading, as well as listening, speaking and writing are fundamental to the development of literacy skills, including vocabulary and language development.

The key is to have a regular routine for reading together that suits you both.

Spending 10 minutes a day reading together has been shown to make a difference.

If you can manage more time, that's great - as long as it's a positive experience. It helps to have books that match your children's interest, whether they are purchased, borrowed from friends, the local library or from school.

Children often take their cues from their parents. For this reason, it's important for adults to display a positive attitude towards reading - simply expressed by spending time enjoying reading.

Just read a few pages and ask your child questions, get them to predict what might happen next, talk about how characters might feel etc. All helps to advance reading skills and comprehension doing with a love of reading.

Absences

Department requirement states that students who are away from school must bring a note or parents must ring up and explain why they are away on the day.

Free 2018 Swimming program

I am happy to confirm that our friends at the Active Moreland Group, along with the YMCA will again sponsor our whole school swimming program this year. This is a brilliant outcome for our students and families.

The program is totally free for all students so we expect a 100% attendance rate.

The programs will run over 8 sessions. More information will be provided in term 3.

|Monday |Sept 3 |Sept 10 |

|Tuesday |Sept 4 |Sept 11 |

|Wednesday |Sept 5 |Sept 12 |

|Thursday |Sept 6 |Sept 13 |

Permission forms need to be returned asap.

On time to school

A reminder to our families that school classes begin at 9:00am. It is wise to have students arrive at school at around 8:45am which gives them time to play, catch up with friends and get organised for the day ahead.

We ask families to make the effort of ensuring that their child/ren arrive at school on time.

Late comers miss out on the start of the lesson and interrupt the class.

Social media profile

Twitter [pic] Our school now has a number of social media platforms to keep our community up to date with what’s going on at school.

To follow our school’s Tweets go to the following: BelleVueParkPS@BelleVueParkPS

Belle Vue Park Primary Website

Our school, kindergarten and Community Hub website address is located at:



S.O.L.E. Australia website & Twitter

Have you checked out the Self Organising Learning Environments website yet? S.O.L.E. The address is:

The website has been developed by our school and our partner school Aberfeldie Primary School.

PaulKenna@SOLEAust

Kids need 10

Sleep is our single most important behavioural experience. The average person spends over a third of their life sleeping, but don’t presume that means they’re inactive.

In fact, parts of our brain are far more active when we’re asleep and yet the benefits of sleep are chronically undervalued. In Australia, we’re in the grip of a creeping epidemic of irritability, accident-proneness and chronic health conditions, as modern lifestyles mess with the primal wiring of our internal body clocks.

So how many hours do you need? Children need 10 hours, teenagers 9 and adults 8. Sleep is critical in helping us process memories and consolidate learning. The negative effects of not getting enough are many, ranging from moodiness and decreased thinking capacity to stunted growth. So for the sake of your family, turn off, tune out and get some much needed zzzzzzz’s. Try doing these things

• Dim the lights 30-60 minutes before you sleep. This gives melatonin (the sleep chemical) a chance to secrete.

• Keep all technology out of the room.

• Avoid caffeinated drinks after midday.

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.

Free nursing service available

Have a great week everyone.

Paul Kenna

Principal

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