28 July 2017

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents and Guardians, I hope the holidays were enjoyed by all our families and trust they provided some quiet time to relax and re-energise. Grade 5 Camp For our Grade 5 students, the term commenced with a camp at Sovereign Hill. Over three days, the students gained an insight into what life was like during the gold rush era. They developed a new appreciation for modern conveniences, such as electricity and realised how fortunate they are to have the opportunity to attend school and receive an education. Camp provided many highlights. We were fortunate to experience two mine tours, view a number of demonstrations, try our hand at old style bowling, shop and pan for gold. This is just a snapshot. The sound and light show, ‘Blood on the Southern Cross’ was also memorable and provided our students with an understanding of the Eureka Stockade. It was a great way to start this term’s studies of Australian history. I would like to praise our students for their excellent behaviour. They were wonderful ambassadors for our school and I admired the way they supported and looked after each other. Thank you also to the teachers who attended and provided our students with this valuable opportunity. School Concert- Wednesday 16th August Rehearsals are in full swing as students prepare to take to the stage. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased online at https://www.trybooking.com/300954. Performing students do not require a ticket as they will be backstage with their class. Parents will have received details about their child’s costume. Thank you to parents for your continued support in helping to source costume items. It promises to be a most entertaining evening!

Upcoming Dates August

Monday 7th

Wednesday 16th

Thursday 17th

Monday 21st

Tuesday 22nd

Wednesday 23rd

Thursday 24th

Tuesday 29th

Thursday 31st

Subway Lunch

School Concert 7-00pm start Book Fair Begins 3:30-4:30pm in the

Library

Book Week commences

Last Day - Ashton Scholastic Book

Fair 3:30-4:30pm in the library

Grade 5 – Norwood Concert

Whole School Book Character Parade

9:00am in the gym

Literacy/Numeracy week

Davina Bell - Author Visit

Grade 4 Planetarium Excursion

2018 Foundation Transition Maths

Father’s Day Stall

September Monday 4th

Monday 4th to

Wednesday 6th

Monday 11th

Thursday 14th

Monday 18th to

Friday 22nd

Tuesday 19th

Friday 22nd

Footy Day Lunch

Parent Teacher interviews

Curriculum Day

eSmart Parent Forum

Grade 3-6 Swimming

2018 Foundation Transition P.M.P

End of Term 3 (2:30pm dismissal)

Parent Opinion Survey We will shortly be conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The Parent Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents at each school. It is designed to assist our school in gaining an understanding of parents’ perception of school climate, student engagement and relationships with our parent community. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. The survey will be conducted online by ORIMA Research Pty Ltd and only takes 15 minutes to complete. The survey can be accessed via desktop computer, laptop, tablet or mobile at any convenient time within the fieldwork period from Monday 7th August to Sunday 27th August. Approximately 30 per cent of parents will be invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. Families randomly selected will shortly receive information detailing how to access the survey. There will be a second survey conducted later in the year that will be open to all families. eSafety The eSmart team have been busy reviewing curriculum and school documentation as we strive to create an environment where students feel comfortable and responsible when using technology. It is a constantly changing landscape with new apps and programs becoming available on a regular basis. It is important to stay up to date with current research and we will look to share information with our parent community throughout the year. The following link will take you to an iParent website. This website contains information that may assist parents to manage technology at home. It provides facts and stats as well as tips such as child friendly search engines. https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/iparent Illness Winter has definitely set in and brought with it a number of colds and flus. At school, teachers are actively encouraging students to wash hands and cover mouths when coughing etc. We ask parents to support us by not sending your child to school if they are unwell. If a child suffers from Gastro, it is important they do not attend school until 48 hours after the symptoms have ceased. The best place for them to rest and recover is at home. Tree Planting Day A big thank you to Pauline for all her work in preparing and leading Tree Planting Day. It was a wonderful event which saw students and special guests planting trees across our school grounds. Melbourne Vixen’s netballer, Liz Watson also attended and joined in the fun. We were fortunate to again have the support of Yarra Valley Toyota and Maroondah Council who sponsored the day. Transition We enjoyed having our 2018 Foundation students at school for their Story Time transition session. There was great excitement in the classroom as the children became familiar with their new environment and started the process of making new friends. The Foundation teachers were pleased with how well the students settled and are looking forward to future sessions. A massive thank you to the Family and Friends network and our volunteer bakers for supporting the program and providing the parents with a delicious morning tea. Baby News It is with excitement that we share with the community the news that Ms Manz recently gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Parker Alexander William was born on the 24th of July.

Andrew Moore

Principal

Foundation News

Welcome back everyone. During the last week of Term Two, our students who attend our EAL Homework Club thoroughly enjoyed making pancakes. They all took turns to carefully measure and stir the ingredients until it was smooth and creamy. Then to their delight, we watched the batter sizzle in the pan. This experience encouraged our students to communicate and practise their speaking skills. Of course, the added bonus was the students also had a chance to sample a new type of food. By all accounts, the pancakes were a huge success.

Our Foundation students also had a wonderful time at our school disco. For many of them it was the first time they had ever attended a disco. There were lots of cool hairdos and sparkly clothes but the highlight was watching their dance moves. Despite lots of red faces in the crowd, everyone had a great time. We would like to thank the Family and Friends Network for all their hard work in planning and conducting the event.

Design Expo This week we launched our unit ‘Designers Galore’ by conducting a mini design expo on Tuesday. Our students had an opportunity to learn about the processes involved in designing objects such as costumes, cake decorations and crocheted blankets. Our guest

speakers provided the students with information about how they formulate their ideas, the resources they use and of course, they also highlighted the need to be flexible in overcoming problems during the construction phase. Everyone loved decorating small horseshoe shaped decorations with edible food colouring and drawing their own ideas for animal costumes. We would like to thank Carol Tuppen, Karen McDonald and Sandi Laird for giving up their time to share their expertise with our students.

Mathematics Over the past two weeks, we have been reinforcing the addition process and we have introduced the counting on strategy. The children loved creating magic number flip cards that require them to use our new strategy. We have also been playing games to enhance their speed and accuracy in recalling addition facts to 10. In the next few weeks, we will be creating addition number stories to consolidate their language related to addition. We have also recently introduced o’clock times this term and everyone has enjoyed making their own clocks. Students at this level often have difficulty linking activities to specific times during the day. You can help at home by discussing the time with them and drawing their attention to the activities they do at specific times of the day. For example, you could highlight the time they wake up in the morning or go to bed or go to swimming lessons. School Production Rehearsals are well underway for our whole school musical and our Foundation students are very excited. Thank you to everyone who has been busy sourcing costumes, we appreciate your efforts. We are sure you will thoroughly

enjoy watching your child starring under the bright lights when they perform their item so please remember to purchase your tickets for this special event.

Middle School

Grade 3 and 4

The Middle School teachers would like to welcome all of our families back for Term 3 and hope everyone had a

fantastic holiday. We have an exciting term ahead! The Grade 3 and 4 students have been working hard on preparing

their concert item and cannot wait to share this experience with you on Wednesday 16th August. There will be more

information and notices to come.

Grade 3: This semester in Mathematics students will be investigating odd

and even numbers, rounding off, mapping, place value (to 10

000 and beyond), chance experiments, decimals, length,

capacity and mass.

In Literacy, students are learning about Roald Dahl in an author

study. 3M and 3P have begun reading ‘The Big Friendly Giant’.

Students will be learning about a number of text types,

including letter writing, procedures, plays and scripts. Our

reading strategies are: inferring, self-monitoring and

synthesising.

This term in Science, the Grade 3 students will be exploring solids and liquids in a Chemical Science unit called

‘Melting Moments’. In History, the Grade 3 students will be exploring Australian symbols and celebrations. Students

will also explore other celebrations from around the world.

Grade 4: In Mathematics this term, students are exploring patterns and algebra, money and financial mathematics, chance

and probability and mapping. In Literacy, we will focus on writing autobiographies and procedures whilst revisiting

and developing the ability to create recounts, poetry, persuasive pieces and letters.

This term in Science, students in 4A and 4M are exploring ‘day and night’ in our Earth Sciences unit, this will include

an exciting trip to the Planetarium at Scienceworks.

Rehearsal for the whole school concert is well underway with student’s fine tuning their performances. We are so

eager for friends and families to see the students’ hard work and efforts on stage in just a few weeks.

Senior School Grade 5 Camp to Sovereign Hill On Monday 17th July (the first day of term), the Grade 5 students headed to

Sovereign Hill, Ballarat, for a three day camp. Students were immersed in

the life of the 1850s and learnt about the challenges of life during this time,

and how difficult it was for miners and their families.

Our Grade 5 campers thoroughly enjoyed their time at Sovereign Hill. They

were involved in various activities including a Gold Pour demonstration,

where the gold ingot was worth approximately $160,000. A couple of lucky

students were able to hold this gold ingot.

Another highlight included venturing underground for two mine tours. In the

Labyrinth mine tour, we all travelled underground in a carriage where it

went pitch black! Students learnt about the challenges of mining and the

decreased life expectancy for miners.

Other highlights included panning for gold and actually FINDING gold, education

sessions, candle making, a lolly making demonstration, bowling and visiting the

1850s houses and buildings.

At night, students enjoyed Christmas in July celebrations and walked around a

beautifully lit up Sovereign Hill, with Christmas music playing and fake snow

falling. It was a magical experience.

After a sudden power outage in Ballarat on the first night, students enjoyed

attending the Blood on the Southern Cross

light show on the second night, learning

about the story of the Eureka Rebellion – a

dramatic battle between gold miners and

Government forces.

We were extremely impressed with the

positive manner in which our students

represented our school. At all times students used their manners and were

respectful of each other and of those in the general public.

We look forward to expanding upon what we learnt at Sovereign Hill this term.

Curriculum

Literacy

In Writing, students are currently developing their skills in writing information reports. Students are using various

resources including the internet, magazines, books and encyclopaedias to gather information about their particular

topic of choice. In Reading, our current comprehension strategy focus is on Making Connections. Students are

learning about the three different making connection focuses – text to self, text to text and text to world. This will

improve students’ abilities to understand what they read and make greater links, developing their comprehension

skills.

Transition Updates

Norwood Secondary College Production

On Wednesday 23rd August, Grade 5 students will be attending Norwood Secondary College’s Production, 'Spamalot'.

A new musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail’.

Students thoroughly enjoyed this experience last year and learned all about

what secondary school productions have to offer. Please remember to

provide permission via Compass or return the form to the classroom

teacher.

Rotary Speech Competition After completing classroom and senior school competitions, Ruskin Park

were represented at this year’s Rotary Speech Competition by Kelsey (6P)

and Ella (5B). Both girls put in an amazing effort to learn their speeches

and present them to an audience of Rotarians and other distinguished

guests along with family and friends. The girls showed confidence and

talent as they delivered their speeches. Although we did not receive a

place the girls were commended on their delivery style and use of the

stage. We are very proud of their efforts and commend them on their enthusiasm and commitment.

CYBERSAFETY As we continue to work hard to gain our eSmart accreditation, our Middle School and Senior School students have

investigated the 5Ps of cybersafety. We have discussed and considered what each of these mean and how it affects

our online behaviour.

Profiles – using a nickname and profile picture that doesn’t show your face

Positive- making sure online information about you is as positive as possible

Permission – making sure you have a grown – ups permission to use a site or app

Privacy – Keep your password and personal details secure

Protect –keep evidence and do not bully back, tell someone

The students then designed a poster to

display around the school to engage and

inform our school community. Ella (5B) and

Chloe (5B) were successful in having their

poster selected. This will now be displayed in

each classroom to remind students of their

responsibility online.

Hoop Time Well done to all the Grade 5 and 6 students who represented Ruskin Park at last week’s Hoop Time tournament.

They demonstrated excellent sportsmanship and worked hard to develop their skills. Extra time was required in

some instances to decide games. All teams should be proud of their efforts.

The Ashton Scholastic Book Fair Is Coming!

Thursday 17th August- Tuesday 22nd August

We will once again be holding our annual Book Fair in conjunction with Book Week to promote the importance of

reading and a love of literature. The theme for our Book Fair will be ‘Escape to Everywhere’. Our Grade 3 and 4

students under the guidance of Mrs. Donaldson will be creating a beautiful mural and escape dioramas to create a

wonderful environment for our Book Fair.

It’s time to encourage your child to start saving their pocket money so they are able to take advantage of the

wonderful bargains on offer. All funds raised from the sales will be used to purchase new books for our school and

classroom libraries.

Our Book Fair will be located in the school library and it will run from Thursday 17th August until Tuesday 22rd August

from 3:30 to 4:30pm. All you need to do is to follow the arrows and advertising materials to find books to inspire

your child to read. There will be a range of books for all ages and some will only cost $1, what a bargain! We will also

have posters and variety items such as rubbers and pencils on sale too.

Mrs Alaine Beare

Book Fair Coordinator

Book Week Is Coming!

Once again we will be celebrating National Children’s Book Week at Ruskin Park from Monday 21st – Friday 25Th

August. This annual event highlights the importance of reading, and draws on the joy of stories and the creativity of

Australian books.

The theme this year is: ‘Escape to Everywhere.’ It is based on the theory that reading must surely be one of the most

accessible and beneficial means of escape. Reading can transport, entertain and educate us; it can transform us.

Reading forces us to apply the brakes to life. Sometimes we can all too easily overlook, or take for granted, a lot of

the good stuff in life. If a story engages us, we tend to see all it has to offer, and if it is a good story, well written,

then it shall reveal more on repeated readings. The escapism provided by books often allows us to return to the ‘real

world’ with greater appreciation for the pleasures and perhaps with a greater insight into how to navigate some of

the rockier terrain.

To help you prepare for Book Week we have listed below the key events that will be happening during Book Week

2017.

KEY BOOK WEEK EVENTS

Monday 21st August – Whole School Picnic Lunch

We are encouraging students to bring along their favourite

book to share with a friend while they enjoy a picnic lunch

between 1:15- 1:40pm in our beautiful school gardens. Last

year some students and teachers brought along picnic

blankets, and this added a special touch of comfort. Once

again, we will pair our older students with younger grades for

this event.

Tuesday 22nd August- Art Activities

This year every grade will explore in detail one of the shortlisted picture storybooks and they will complete a

wonderful art activity to enrich the experience within their classrooms.

We are looking forward to seeing their finished artworks on display

around the school.

Thursday 24th August- Whole School Book Character Parade

9:00am in the Gymnasium

We will be encouraging all of our students to dress up as their favourite

book character. Our teachers, office staff and teacher aides are joining in

on the fun too and they are all very busy creating their costumes for this

fun filled event.

Please encourage your child to dress up as a book character so they can

participate in the parade of characters. We cannot wait to see our

students dressed up in their amazing costumes. The Book Character

Parade will held in the gymnasium at 9:00am. Parents are welcome to

attend and join in the fun.

Tuesday 29th August- Author Visit

We are delighted to have Davina Bell an

accomplished writer conduct three

workshops for our students. She is a

wonderful writer who I am sure will

foster a love of reading and writing as

she shares her craft skills with our

students. I would like to take this

opportunity to thank Lisa Dalmau for her

support and assistance with this special

event.

Garden Club Wow! Did you know that the “Chinese lantern” flower is edible? And that parts of the fuscia are also tasty? And that there are weeds that can be used for medicinal purposes growing in your lawn… well definitely in my lawn…:/ After John’s visit to Garden Club on Thursday we are so much wiser about plants we can utilise in our vegi patch to create a lower maintenance and tasty space in our school yard. He also thrilled the children by digging into the compost bay with his bare hands to smell the compost, and congratulated us on a good brew, highlighting the importance of good soil for edible plants due to the sharing of

nutrients with us when we eat them… if the soil is full of nutrients the plant soaks them up, then we eat them up and we have the benefits of them too! The Edible Forest Garden is a concept where plants which have edible flowers, fruits, leaves, roots and berries are planted alongside the higher maintenance annual vegetables we are familiar with. This creates a space where food is available year round, and the plants thrive as the flowers encourage pollinators to visit our garden, whilst providing year round interest for us too.

To follow up on John’s visit, we intend to encourage the students to plan what they would like to have in the vegi patch, where we can plant them and how we can merge our Indigenous Habitat Corner with a bush tucker garden too! Oh so much potential! John has also offered to come back and show us how to graft pears onto our ornamental pear tree, and is happy to offer us advice on planting. I encourage you to pop into his Edible Forest Garden Nursery in Wonga Park and check out the variety of plants he has and see what tasty treats you can plant in your own garden. (Another interesting character to check out if you are interested in sustainability, health and our environment is “Environmental Radical” Joost Bakker. His opinion on soil is thought provoking). National School Tree Planting Day is on Friday 28th. The Foundation students and the Grade 3 & 4 students are once again participating and I’m glad they are helping us plant as we have about 150 tube stock to go in! Once again Maroondah Council has kindly donated the plants, along with the expertise on plant choice, and Yarra Valley Toyota is sponsoring us with T-Shirts,

Gloves, Tree guards and also have organised for the local paper to have an article published about it AND Liz Watson, Melbourne Vixens Netballer, is coming for a chat and to help us plant some trees! Thank you Jane, Robyn and the Crew at Yarra Valley Toyota. Derek and the crew from Maroondah Council, and thank you also to the Garden Club Crew for once again supporting this event, Rachael, Gemma, and Anna, we appreciate your help. If you are interested in assisting with Garden Club on a Thursday lunchtime 1:30-2:30pm, please contact me at marigold3136@gmail.com or leave a message at the office. Happy gardening Pauline, Rachael, Gemma & Anna

Family and Friends

We are fundraising with the NEW 2017 | 2018 Entertainment

Membership. Entertainment Memberships are filled with hundreds of

valuable offers for everything you love to do, and you'll be helping our

fundraising at the same time!

Next week a form will come home to help you order an online book or

purchase one from school. Please complete this and return to school.

You can view the membership online or there is a book in the school office. If you would like any other information,

please don't hesitate to ask

https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/189q377

Birthdays

These students have recently celebrated their birthdays

Sian Cungpi Allison Anya

Jenna Logan Rebecca Bailey

Liam Abraham Sui Te Acung

Maddelyn Ava Monique Samuel

Lexie Miley Isabella Ronan

Teresa Amber Daniel Jasper

Cara Evi Drew Zara

Isabella Lily Mark Dawt Len Tial

Paige Thomas Khaleen Jessica

William Charlie Tylah Justin

Hazel Eden Aiden

THE RUSKIN PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL VISION

Every student at Ruskin Park Primary School can develop their natural curiosity

and imagination through new and engaging approaches to teaching and learning.

The encouragement of a positive attitude within a friendly community of learners

will promote success today, tomorrow and into the future.

THE RUSKIN PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL VALUES ARE

Building Friendship, Creativity, Honesty & Respect