Thursday 10th November, 2016

From the Assistant Principal

BUILDING WORKS

The children all received notes yesterday detailing the building works that will be taking place from next week. Due to our increasing numbers we have been issued an extra relocatable building which will be situated behind the Grade 5/6 hub. Additionally the department will remove the old relocatable building which currently houses the Grade 5 classes and will replace it with a newer Mod 5 relocatable (similar to the one the Grade 4 classes are in). These works will impact on the school in a number of ways; • Increased traffic movement at the front of the school. There will also be

days when the staff will be unable to park in the car park. • There will be 3 days next week when the children in the hubs will be unable to work in their buildings. • Temporary relocation of students in affected classrooms. • Some specialist classes to take place in classrooms. • Children will have no play access to that section of the school behind the

hubs. Construction fencing will be in place. Although there is some inconvenience the end result will be an increased number of learning spaces. Our priority during the process will be the safety of students and staff and the continuation of school programs. Staff will be working hard to minimise the impact of these works on the children and the school program. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation during this time. CURRICULUM DAY Friday 11th November is a Curriculum Day. Staff will be at school working on End of Year Reports. Students are not to attend school. HATS A reminder that hats are compulsory this term. Hats are available to purchase at the office for $8. RETIREMENT At the end of this year we will say a very sad goodbye to 3 longstanding staff members. Denise Rankin, Sue Boreham and Denise Wilkins are all retiring at the end of 2016. These teachers have all made outstanding contributions to Parkdale Primary School and will be sorely missed. We look forward to hearing all about their adventures as they enter a new and exciting chapter. cont’d …...

CALENDAR

November Friday 11th

Curriculum Day (No students at school)

Tuesday 15th Prep 2017 Information

Night

2017 Fair Meeting

Friday 18th Stomp - Gr. 5/6

Monday 21st School Council

Thursday 24th Guitar & Keyboard Concert 2.30pm

Safe Routes to School Strategic Workshop

3.45 - 5.00pm

Friday 25th Stomp - Gr. 5/6

December

Thursday 1st Grade 1 Excursion

Friday 2nd Christmas Concert

Tuesday 6th Grade 6 - Year 7 Orientation Day

Whole School Transition Morning - including

2017 Preps

Monday 12th Prep/Kinder Transition

Picnic

Tuesday 13th Grade 4 Media Roadshow

Wednesday 14th Grade 6 Graduation

End of Term 4

Tuesday 20th December Assembly 12:30pm

1:00pm Finish

From The Assistant Principal ……. cont’d

END OF THE YEAR The end of the year is shaping up to be very busy. Transition Days, Incursions, Excursions, Graduations, Christmas Concert, Picnics, Safe Routes to School Forums — it is all happening! Please make sure to take the time to read newsletters and check notices and calendars. FOOD DRIVE Parkdale Primary School is once again coordinating a food drive for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (the ASRC). The food will be collected between Tuesday 22nd November and Monday 5th December. It is optional for families to participate in this food drive. Further information is printed on a separate page of the newsletter. REMEMBRANCE DAY Today the children participated in a Remembrance Day Ceremony. Well done to the school leaders for speaking so confidently and to all Parkdale Primary School students for listening so respectfully. Thanks also to Mrs Haddad for all of her organisation. Tracy Richards Assistant Principal

Grade 2 .. Cont’d We are enjoying investigating a range of different ‘Habitats’ as part of our Inquiry topic while students build on their research and note-taking skills.

Reminders: Friday 11th November is a student free day. Habitat dioramas are due in on Monday 14th November. Grade 3 Welcome to Week 6! Students are thoroughly enjoying creating their projects in class and are working hard at the challenge of putting their research into their own words.

The students are excited about our Media Roadshow Incursion next week! They are enthusiastically rehearsing for their roles in the TV show, radio broadcast and creating their own animation. Due to our incursion, R.O.A.R. will not go ahead next week, but will recommence in Week 8, if you would like to assist in your child’s class, come and join us!

Please remind your child to complete their Mathletics tasks. These are set every Monday morning. Congratulations to the recipients of AR Certificates for this week: Liam S, Lucas C, Bryce A, Sarah A, Eden B, Will F, Maksim J, Neve K, Oscar K, Shrish K, Bianca M, Ronan M, Sanara R, Jet W, Will H, Ava N, Tania B, Hamish M, Anne L, Noah G, Seth M and Patrick O. Tip of the Week - It is crucial that all students are learning and revising their times tables – regardless of whether they know them all or not! Times tables form the basis for all ‘number’ concepts and students really struggle without this knowledge. Place a times table poster next to the toilet, play timetables games on the iPad (such as Times Tables Hurdles and Math Bingo), quiz each other on the way to/from school – make time to make the times tables a priority. * If you have a tip or recommendation you’d like to share in ‘What’s Happening,’ email your teacher and

let us know whether you’d like to be named! We

look forward to next week’s ‘Tip of the Week!’ Grade 4 Grade 4 students have continued to construct their ‘Smoke Signals to Satellites’ communication projects and they are looking fantastic thus far. The projects focus on a range of different forms of communication ranging from cave paintings, smoke signals and the humble telephone to the Apple iPhone and social media. Good copies will be constructed as either a poster or a booklet and will be presented in the coming weeks.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

Prep The Preps had an amazing time at the Melbourne Zoo on Wednesday! We all saw a huge variety of animals and enjoyed learning about them in the Education Center. We were very impressed with how well all the children behaved. Thank you so much to the parent helpers that also joined us. We are very grateful for the assistance and enthusiasm you gave on the day.

Literacy groups will return to the normal schedule next week.

Don’t forget tomorrow is a Curriculum Day. Have a lovely long weekend! Grade 1 The children have done a brilliant job of presenting their sea creature reports! We have been so impressed with their confidence whilst presenting and the effort that the students have put into completing their reports. Thank you for your assistance with this!

In class the students have been busy researching and creating various creatures to display within our classrooms and have enjoyed writing procedural texts about how many of them were made.

Next Thursday we will be having a special incursion, where the children will be learning all about marine conservation and how we can better care for our local marine life.

Also another reminder that towards the end of this term we will be doing a special activity involving shoeboxes. If you could please stockpile any shoeboxes, or send them in to your child’s teacher, it would be greatly appreciated!

We hope you all enjoy your day off tomorrow and come back ready for another busy week on Monday! Grade 2

Our CAFÉ focus this week is Comprehension: ‘Determine author’s purpose’. Students have been analysing a range of text types, discussing whether each text was written to persuade, inform or entertain them (PIE). They were also required to give evidence to support their opinion using clues in the text.

In Maths, the children continued to explore ‘Number and place value’. They’ve been busy comparing numbers, representing them in different ways, partitioning and explaining the value of the digits within a number.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

Grade 4 .. Cont’d

Next week we were due to have an incursion from the Media Roadshow company, however we have rescheduled this event due to the building disruptions taking place and limited classroom spaces as a result. This incursion will now take place on Tuesday 13th December. Kids will get the chance to create their own animation, film a news program on a green screen and record a radio show that explores the history of radio! We look forward to this in a few weeks’ time.

This week our Café focus relates to fluency and expression when reading aloud. Grade 4 students will be working on this skill whilst practising and preparing for our Media incursion next week. Students would also greatly benefit from being able to read aloud to parents at home, placing a focus on the ability to read at a good pace with expression. Congratulations to the recipients of AR Certificates for this week: Manuela Q, Olivia M, Annie W, Gabbi M, Lennon M, Tilly F, Grace S and Hunter R. Grade 5/6

All Grade 5/6 students need to bring their home project in on Monday. Their at-school projects are currently being presented and reflect a plethora of interesting and diverse research tasks around this term's "Outer Limits" theme.

We are continuing the new Maths topic about ‘Patterns and Algebra’; all students would benefit from accessing MangaHigh to consolidate their class learning.

You should have had a note home yesterday to explain about the changes to the classrooms. The Grade 5 classes will be moving to the foyer of the Gym building. Classes will continue as normal.

Since we have a Curriculum Day on Friday 11th November, students should not attend school on this day. NUDE FOOD During the month of October, Parkdale celebrated National Nude Food Month by having a month long competition. Congratulations to Alexandra C. (PB) for winning our grand prize of ‘Wooly Green’. Amazing effort on bringing in Nude Food this month Alex!

LOTE 1D For fabulous work on your ‘The Very Hungry Bug’ book.

Prep B Queenie G. For her fantastic effort during her writing of her buddy letter.

Prep D Lottie M-W. For always taking her time to produce neat work. Well done Lottie.

Prep M Kahsia L. Isobel A.

For working really hard at school and home to improve her writing. Amazing work. For demonstrating resilience, when things don’t go to plan. Well done Isobel.

Prep S Milo S. Harry T.

For confidently sharing his ideas with teachers and the class. For always offering to help others and being such a great friend.

Prep T Charlie E. Zali C.

For working hard to complete tasks during Literacy groups. Well done. For being a friendly class member, always willing to help out her classmates.

1A Noah B. Noah W. Emily M.

For working hard to increase the length of his writing pieces. For an excellent level of participation during our First Aid incursion. For working hard to learn her Spelling words each week.

1D Katerina I. For her outstanding comic strip for Literacy Week.

1J Ben K. Gabrielle N.

For writing a fantastic ‘Homophone’ story. For writing a wonderfully entertaining and engaging narrative.

1S Evie M. Haylee M. Harry G. Amelia P. Angus C.

For enthusiastically contributing to class discussions. For working hard with Mrs Hibbins and in class to complete lots of great writing. For his wonderful narrative about finding keys. For confidently presenting her Information Report on Sea Otters. For his brilliant use of homophones in his ‘One That One’ writing.

2H Angus S. For an excellent effort with his persuasive writing.

2M Eden V. Mahon C.

For making excellent progress with your reading. For his fantastic effort with writing his persuasive text about Pets.

2P Gabriel H. For planning and writing a fantastic persuasive text. Great job Gabriel.

2T Reed B. For your hard work with persuasive writing and Nessy spelling.

3F Will H. For participating in class discussions and ‘having a go’. Well done Will.

3J Kim R. Daisy Q.

For exceptional work on your inquiry project. Keep it up. For outstanding work on your Sign Language poster. Great Work DQ.

3T Bianca M. Lila H.

For demonstrating persistence and resilience in all class activities. Well done. For always participating in class activities with a big smile. Well done.

3U Isabella D. For her wonderful effort in completing her Mathletics tasks.

4B Imala V. For getting along with her peers and making good progress towards her AR Target.

4H Gabbi McA. Issy B.

For her kindness and empathy towards all other students. For approaching all set tasks with a positive attitude.

4M Charlie H. For fantastic planning and writing for her Mobile Phone persuasive text.

5A Dakota B. For her enthusiasm and participation during our science incursion.

5S Bianca C. For always applying herself to class tasks and helping others.

5/6B Danae L. For her wonderful project creation about the Hubble Telescope.

5/6G Josh C. For an excellent presentation and creative design for his partner project.

5/6H Brodie M. For his outstanding explanation about Volcanoes.

5/6C Alex S. Candice P.

For her fantastic improvement in both Writing and Comprehension. For 100% positive commitment to everything, your artistic flair and wonderful comprehension.

ICT 5S Prep S

For really amazing work creating Robotics questions and quiz slides with hyperlinks. For outstanding work formatting their names in ‘Word’ documents.

STARS OF THE WEEK

PARKDALE PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION (P.P.A.)

Thank you to the PPA members who attended the meeting last night. There is plenty happening around the school as we head into the festive season.

Next week PPA will speak at the Prep Information Evening advising the 2017 Prep families about the role of PPA and encouraging them to become involved. The week after, Tuesday 22nd November there will be a welcome Afternoon Tea while the new Preps spend some time in their classrooms. A second hand uniform sale will be on at this time.

PPA are asking for donations of baked goods to support the afternoon tea. Goods can be can be dropped off in the Canteen area on Monday 21st November before school pick up or on the morning of Tuesday 22nd November.

Last year PPA supported an initiative to collect food items for the Asylum Refugee Centre. The school community responded so generously we are running it again this year. Information will be sent home soon regarding what items are needed from each year level. We thank you in advance for your support of this very worthy cause.

PPA will be running a raffle at the Christmas Concert this year. Please see flyer in this newsletter regarding donations.

Our last PPA meeting for 2016 will be on Thursday 8th December in the school Staffroom. All welcome.

See you in the school yard.

Samm Hughes President, Julia Broadbent Vice President, Paula Fleming Treasurer and Kate Ashley Secretary