NEWSLETTER Issue #14- 11TH Sept 2014 Respect | Responsibility | Caring | Cooperation | Excellence

In This Edition

Front page letter Science Club 40 Hour Famine Will You Be Here in

2015? Health and Wellbeing

Evaluation

Fundraising News Drop ‘n’ Go Box Payments Due Diary

Community News

FRONT PAGE LETTER

The Australian Curriculum includes seven General Capabilities that are recognised as being critical to the development of 21st Century Learners:

Literacy Numeracy Information and communication technology (ICT) capability Critical and creative thinking Personal and social capability Ethical understanding Intercultural understanding.

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Overview/general-capabilities-in-the-australian-curriculum As Woodcroft Primary continues to implement the Australian Curriculum, a large focus is on helping students manage their relationships, lives and learning more effectively. Personal and social capability is all about students learning to understand themselves as well as others, such that they become resilient life-long learners. As a school, we are continually looking to improve our practice to better equip students for the world in which they live, through learning experiences that focus on:

making responsible decisions handling challenging situations constructively working effectively in teams developing leadership skills recognising and regulating emotions developing empathy for others and understanding relationships

One way to develop in students the range of qualities described above is to increase opportunities for them to learn with and from each other in authentic and challenging contexts. Whilst interpersonal skills and qualities are practiced informally in free-play, explicit instruction and support is critical. A key role of teachers and parents is to help students negotiate social and emotional discomfort, as opposed to rescuing them. Early next term we will commence the class placement process for 2015. For practical reasons, there is a high likelihood we will again have some single-gender and multi-age classes next year. Interestingly, the influence of single-gender and single year level classes on learning outcomes is unclear, however, educational research is clear about teachers making the biggest difference. The Australian Curriculum provides a framework for learning design based around year level Performance Standards, but regardless of year level, teaching and learning is a personal thing. Independent of class structures and staffing, learning at this school will continue to be aimed at helping all students reach their full potential.

Woodcroft Primary School

1-23 Investigator Drive, WOODCROFT, SA, 5162

Tel. 08 8322 2784 Fax. 08 8322 2851 SMS: 0428937348

www.woodcrofps.sa.edu.au dl.1776.info@schools.sa.edu.au

Canteen: 08 8322 5785

OSHC: 0413925337

Upcoming Dates

14/9 Tournament of Minds Weeks 8,9+10 Swimming Weeks 8+9 Festival of Music 26/9 Last day of Term 2.20pm

finish.

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SCIENCE CLUB This year we have been running 3 Science Clubs at Woodcroft Primary. On Mondays at first break the junior primary children gather at the gym kitchen to experiment with lots of different things, observe and make predictions. It is a fun time and we learn as well. At second break on Mondays it is time for the older students to come and conduct experiments. Our After School Science Club is made up of about 15 dedicated scientists. Some of whom entered the Oliphant Science Award recently. They have a display of their entries in the front foyer of the Administration building. Abby and Joshua Ellis won a prize for their entry and Alex and Ethan gained an Honourable Mention for their ‘Bristle Bots’, which moved because of vibrations; as did Samara for her entry on the Environment and Acid Rain. Comments from our Science Group: Samara, “It is awesome! Everyone should do it!” Eden, “It is spectacular. You get to experiment and try stuff. You never know what is happening!” Ada, “You can use lots of different things to make lots of other things.” Seiam, “It is awesome, like the universe. You can find out stuff.” Hannah, “I like to learn things about Science.” Jordan, “ It is so awesome and mind-boggling; it might make your brain burst. If it does we might make you a new one!” Ethan, “I enjoyed playing and experimenting with the batteries.” Alex, “ Science Club is fun because we get to do all sorts of experiments.”

Jordan’s dad talked about flight and planes. At the end of his brilliant presentation all the children had a try at making paper planes.

Testing our parachutes inside. Testing our parachutes outside.

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40 HOUR FAMINE

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BRIGHT SPARKS

During weeks 2 - 6 two year 6 students, Georgia and I have been going to Aberfoyle Park High School Thursdays, after school for a Science Club called Bright Sparks. On the first week we learned Lab Safety and created model fire extinguishers. In the second week we used microscopes to look at dirty water. Week three we used a Bunsen Burner to filter and distil water, as if we were lost in the outback. Fourth week we separated into two groups. One group went to the lab and learnt about acids and bases. The other group went to a different room and used computer graphics. We used a program called Blockly to draw shapes using blocks. In the 5th and final week, we scattered throughout the lab ad set up stations of experiments we had done previously plus a mystery experiment. We tested the

experiment; then our parents came in and watched us complete the experiment. Then we received a certificate of attendance. Thank you Mrs Fishlock, Mr Mundy and Mr Vick for transporting us to Aberfoyle Park and APHS for allowing us to do this programme in a high school laboratory. It was an amazing experience. I would recommend Bright Sparks to anyone who is interested in more experience-based and less theoretical Science. Diana Hunt, Year 6 Student.

WILL YOU BE HERE IN 2015?

STUDENTS LEAVING WOODCROFT As part of our 2015 class placement exercise we need to know those students who will not be attending our school next year. Please complete this slip by Friday 24

th October 2014 and return it to the front office.

The following student/s WILL NOT be attending Woodcroft Primary School, in 2015. Parents of Year 7 students do not need to respond to this request.

Name/s: Rm no: New School for 2015 (if known):

Name/s: Rm no: New School for 2015 (if known):

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Penny the Pirate – now in Woodcroft Primary School Library Did you know 80% of a child’s learning is visual? This makes eye health one of the most important areas of a child’s academic development. Academic achievement is strongly linked to a child’s vision, with poor vision often resulting in behaviour troubles such as being disruptive in class, poor concentration and an inability to understand basic fundamentals of learning. The goal of OPSM is to improve the eye health of children in South Australia and across Australia to ensure their educational development is not hindered by a correctable vision issue. OPSM is proud to present Penny the Pirate. It’s a story book that will allow parents to screen their child’s vision and will help them discover whether they would benefit from an eye test. Working with the Department of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Melbourne, OPSM have created a storybook which uses three key eye screenings which can help determine whether a child may benefit from a full eye test. The eye screening covers some of the most common vision issues found in children aged 3 10: distance vision, colour vision and depth perception. There are two ways in which parents can take advantage of the Penny the Pirate story and screen their child’s vision. They can use both the book and the kit, that we have in the Library, or if they have any tablet device with device with a screen size greater than 7 inches, download the free app from Google Play or the Apple App store. Alternatively additional free copies of the printed book can be collected from your local OPSM store Grant Fisher International Eyecare Director at Luxottica (OPSM) Visit http://www.opsm.com.au/penny for more information.

HEALTH AND WELLBEING EVALUATION for Children in the Community

Dear Parents, Your school has been invited to take part in the OPAL (Obesity Prevention and Lifestyle) Evaluation to be held on FRIDAY 17th OCTOBER 2014 To help determine the success of OPAL, all students in Years 4, 5 and 6 and their parents/guardians too are being asked to take part in an evaluation of the program. The evaluation is managed by SA Health in partnership with Flinders University. Please find attached an Information Brochure including the Consent Form to complete for your child/children to participate in doing a survey and/or having confidential and private growth check measurements performed. Please also find attached a Parent Survey for you to complete. Personal details are collected for the matching of data/geocoding and will be removed. All data will be collated and the reporting will be done at a community level. You are requested to either: Print off and complete the Consent Form and Parent Survey and post by Friday 10th October to: PO Box 1208, Unley BC SA 5061 OR Go online to http://www.opal.colmarbrunton.com.au/ Simply click on Complete Survey, select 9–11 year old Parent/ Guardian from the first list, then select Woodcroft Primary School from the second list and click on the Consent Form button. You can also complete the Parent Survey on this same site by selecting the same as above and the Complete Survey button. You will need to install Silverlight. Could you please complete the Consent Form, whether it be a Yes or a No to participating in the health

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evaluation. Each child who returns a completed consent form, whether it be a Yes or a No will receive a gift of a yo-yo and a stress ball. By allowing your child to participate in this evaluation you will be contributing to learning more about the health and wellbeing of children in the community. If you have any queries, please contact the OPAL Evaluation Study Support Line on 1800 783 083 or Misch O'Keeffe-Barge on 0407 728 223 We thank you kindly for your attention and time in this matter. Regards Misch O'Keeffe-Barge, OPAL Evaluation Field Supervisor, 0407 728 223

Flyer attached

FUNDRAISING NEWS

Save the Date

The Fundraising Team have two events coming soon.

Bunnings Sausage Sizzle on the 25th

of October (if you could spare one hour that would be great)

Shoot SA Family Photos is on 2nd

of November (an email will go out week 10 with an application form)

GIANT RAFFLE

We still need a lot of donations for this Giant Raffle to be successful.

These can be for any age, male or female, so if you own a business, have a generous employer, or maybe

have an unwanted gift hidden away in your cupboard we would like to hear from you. Vouchers for goods

or services would also be welcome. All businesses donating items will be acknowledged in our school

newsletter, which is distributed to over 650 families.

All donations can be left at the front office, and please advise us of your details if they are to be included in

our newsletter.

Monies raised will go toward our new playgrounds.

Raffle books will be now sent out in week 10 and drawn in Term 4.

Thank you for the people that have donated.

The Fundraising Team

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DROP ‘N’ GO BOX For your convenience we have installed a Drop ‘n’ Go box for parents/students to use. If you have payments or forms to return just drop them into the box and it will be cleared by office staff twice per day. If you prefer, this system can be used instead of students taking money to classroom teachers. The box is located on front desk next to finance room window. We are hoping this will assist parents and students by not having to line up when making payments and/or dropping forms in. Thank you.

PAYMENTS DUE

As a general rule payments are due 1 week prior to excursion/camp etc unless stated on invoice. Payments can be made at Front Office 8.30 to 9.30am, via classroom in named envelope or over the phone with credit card for payments over $10.00. Please include cvn no if paying via credit card.

Who Description Cost Due

School Fees

Issued Term 1

$260.00 Overdue

Yrs R - 2

Swimming $31.00 Overdue

Yrs 3-5 Swimming $32.50 Overdue

Rm 16 & 23

Narnu Farm $120.00 12/09/2014

Rm 11 & 12

Maritime Musuem

$14.00 16/09/2014

Yr 7’s Kangaroo Island

$494.00 less Deposit = $444.00

Final Payment 19/09/14 3rd Payment due 19th Sept

Rec-5 Life Education

$6.00 26/09/2014

Rec to 5

Music is Fun Band

$5.50 15/10/2014

Rm 12 & 14

Museum & Gdns

$12.00 21/10/2014

Rm 31 Mt Gambier Camp

$205.00 24/10/2014

Rm 41 & 42

Adare Camp $75.00 24/11/2014

If you have any concerns meeting the above payments please contact Sue Reeves or Trudi Lawley in the Front Office.

DIARY

W E E K

TERM 3 21 July – 26 September

9 15 – 19

Sept

15 – 19 R-5 Swimming

15-19 Festival of Music

18 Year 4/5 Assembly 2.40 PAC

10 22 – 26

Sept

22 – 26 R-5 Swimming

26 Early Dismissal 2.20pm

TERM 4 13 October – 11 December

1 13 –

17 Oct

14 – 17 Life Ed Van

13-17 Yr 7 Camp to Kangaroo Island

2 20 –

24 Oct

20 -24 Life Ed Van

23 Year 2/3 Assembly 2.40 PAC

3 27 –

31 Oct

27 Life Ed Van

29 Southern Festival of Music

30 Music is Fun R-5

30 Year R/1 Assembly 2.40 PAC

4 3 – 7 Nov

3-7 Room 31 to Mt Gambier

6 Year 6/7 Assembly 2.40 PAC

5 10 – 14

Nov

6 17 – 21

Nov

19 Japanese Sports Day

20 Year 4/5 Assembly 2.40 PAC

7 24 – 28

Nov

Year 2/3 Assembly 2.40 PAC

8 1 – 5 Dec

1 AGM

3 JP Concert

4 & 5 Aquatics for 6/7

4 Year R/1 Assembly 2.40 PAC

9 8 – 12 Dec

10 Yr 7 Graduation

11 Whole School Assembly

12 Student Free Day

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This week we would like to start off by saying a HUGE thank you to Hudson and Oliver Voigt, Sophie and Brianna Phillips, Leon Searle and their families for donating some of their toys and games that they no longer need. We really appreciate their generosity and the children have already had lots of fun playing with the things donated. So THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO YOU ALL! As mentioned a couple of newsletters ago at Camp Australia we are partnering with the Smith Family Foundation to help support children in 97 of the most disadvantaged communities throughout Australia. We are doing this by supporting the Smith’s Family Back 2 School fundraising appeal. As part of this appeal coming soon to our OSHC will be a big jar of Jelly Beans. Everyone then has one month to guess how many Jelly Beans are in the jar, for a donation of 50 cents per guess. There are no limits as to how many times you can enter, just as long as you donate 50 cents for every guess. At the end of the month hopefully we will have raised some money for the Smith Family Back 2 School fundraiser and one lucky person will have guessed the right amount and have a jar full of Jelly Beans to keep! This is a great organization which gives back to the communities so please come in and support it! The Count Down for our SPRING HOLIDAY CLUB is now on. Programs are out and as you would have already seen in OSHC and at the front office, posters are displaying some of the great adventures offered these HOLIDAYS. If you haven’t seen the program yet, you may be unaware of the great adventures your children have these HOLIDAY CLUB. Adventures such as going totally wild at Gorge Wildlife park which have a wide range of animals to see, OR the thrill of watching Boxtrolls at the Movies. OR the explosion of fun we will have when we experience a science demonstration of “Chemical Catstrophes.” ALL these adventures and more are happening these HOLIDAY CLUB so get on line at www.campaustralia.com.au/holidayclub and book your child in.

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COMMUNITY NEWS

Reynella East Little Athletics Centre

Flyer attached