Issue 5 – 1st March 2018

Friday 2nd March Years 3-6 Mindfulness Session 3

Monday 5th March Whittlesea Division Swimming Carnival

Tuesday 6th March Parents Helpers Training 2:30pm & 6pm

Wednesday 7th March Breakfast Club

Thursday 8th March Years 3-6 Mindfulness Session 4

Thursday 8th March School Tour and Information Evening for 2019 Enrolments

Friday 9th March Years 3-6 Mindfulness Session 4

Friday 9th March Years 5 & 6 Interschool Sports

Monday 12th March Labour Day Public Holiday

Wednesday 14th March Breakfast Club

Wednesday 14th March Northern Metro Region Swimming Carnival

Thursday 15th March Years 3-6 Mindfulness Session 5

Friday 16th March Years 3-6 Mindfulness Session 5

Friday 16th March State School Spectacular Dance Rehearsal

Friday 16th March Year 5 & 6 Interschool Sport

PRINCIPAL REPORT

Hello everyone,

On a personal note, I would like to start by thanking everyone for the warm messages of congratulations

regarding the birth of our new son – Benjamin. It is great to be a part of such a caring and supportive

community and the staff, parents and children of Whittlesea Primary School have been wonderful. In particular,

children have gone out of their way to see me over the past two days and say ‘Congratulations Mr Hoggins’. We

absolutely have great kids at our school and I have enjoyed returning from a short period of leave and getting

straight back into the work.

Last night I shared our 2018 Annual Implementation Plan with School Council. This plan outlines the key goals,

targets, ‘Key Improvement Strategies’ and actions which will direct our work this year. Our priorities are centred

on improving the instructional practice of our teachers and promoting student agency. This means developing

student ownership in their learning, goal setting and leadership. These directions are targeted towards

improving student outcomes. You will have noted that the parent teacher interviews held last week were more

structured conversations towards each individual child’s learning goals and how the teachers will support the

child in achieving these. Our dedicated staff have worked on knowing each child early and improving their

academic performance right from the start of the year.

We are currently calling for nominations for the 2018 School Council. I would like to take this opportunity to

thank Celina Mott, Sally Graham, Lyle Winter and Samantha McCormick who have reached the conclusion of

their 2-year tenures. The School Council is an excellent opportunity to contribute to the leadership of our

school, particularly around creating and endorsing new policy, infrastructure programs, fundraising and other

key governance areas. At present, we are calling for nominations for a 12-month vacancy and three 2-year

vacancies. Our staff have been invited to nominate for the vacant staff position, which has been held by

Samantha McCormick. Nomination forms are available from the office. Interested parties may nominate

themselves or be nominated by others. In the event that we have more nominations than there are positions, a

ballot will be conducted and the process will conclude on March 21st.

Until next week,

Ty Hoggins

Principal

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL REPORT

Hello everyone,

Over the past few weeks, we have started to embed our School Wide Positive Behaviours Expectations Matrix.

This matrix outlines the behaviours that we expect to see around the different environments in our school. The

students and staff have all contributed to the collection of expectations and our teachers are explicitly teaching

these behaviours, modelling what they look like and pre correcting; for example, before going out into the

playground what are you going to do to ‘respect your school or help others succeed’? The behaviour expectations

matrix encompasses the three community expectations launched at the end of 2017; Respect Your School, Do

Your Best, Help Others Succeed.

At Whittlesea Primary School, one way we can respect our school every day is to reduce the amount of rubbish in

the playground by bringing nude food. On the way to and from school, children are also encouraged to place any

rubbish in their bags to reduce the amount of rubbish that collects along the fence line of the school, in the

streets surrounding our school and the church carpark. We appreciate your ongoing support of this initiative.

In mentioning the church carpark, I would also like to remind all families that are dropping off in the morning or

picking up in the afternoon to please ensure you only use the disabled parking space if you have a current

disability permit. We have several families that rely on having access to this parking space to get their children

to and from school safely. If you are using this car parking space, please remember permits must be clearly

displayed so the permit number and expiry date are visible from the exterior of the vehicle.

It is also timely to remind all of our bike and scooter riders to be safe when travelling to and from school. With

the new traffic signal installation at the Laurel Street, Wallan Rd and Plenty Rd intersection not too far away, it is

important that all children using the school crossings and footpaths abide by the VIC Roads shared paths

expectations. When riding on a footpath, you must keep to the left and give way to pedestrians. Our school

crossing supervisors play an important role by providing reassurance of safety around schools. All crossing users

should stand behind the yellow line and wait for the supervisor to signal to cross. Children must not ride bikes or

scooters across a road, or part of a road or on a pedestrian crossing. When travelling through the Whittlesea

community please remember to look out for others, especially the elderly and young children, including those in

prams and strollers. Please talk about travelling to and from school safely with your children.

Finally, good luck to all of the swimmers competing at the division swimming carnival at Northcote Aquatic and

Recreation Centre next Monday 5th March. Remember to; Do Your Best and Help Others Succeed where ever and

whenever you can on the day!

Best wishes for a wonderful weekend with your family

Rae Gittos

Assistant Principal

MESSAGE FROM WHITTLESEA POLICE

A reminder to all students that a helmet must be worn when riding a bike or scooter to school.

Our local police have noticed that many children are not wearing helmets and have asked us

to remind families that all bike and scooter riders are required to wear a helmet under

Victorian Law.

HELMETS SAVE LIVES

WPS SPORTS REPORTS

Last Friday, our year 5 & 6 interschool soccer teams competed against Mernda

Central in our first soccer match. Both boys and girls soccer teams played very well

against the Mernda Central teams. Our boys' team lost 6-0 and our girls' team lost

5-0. Both our teams have reflected on the last game and we are now having

training sessions at school so we can perform at our best.

Last week our grade 5/6 interschool sports teams travelled to Mernda Central for our

first round of the season. The boys cricket team demonstrated excellent sportsmanship

in a comfortable victory, winning 171 – 92. The girls cricket team was also victorious,

winning their match 157 – 73.

WPS LUNCH TIME CLUBS

CLUBS: TERM 1 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Before School

Breakfast Club Peter (Gym)

Break 1

ICT Club Mrs Fordham (Library)

ICT Club Mrs Fordham (Library)

ICT Club Mrs Fordham (Library)

ICT Club Mrs Fordham (Library)

ICT Club Mrs Fordham (Library)

Wood Craft Peter/Mr Maxfield (Intervention Room)

Sports Club Mr Leslie (Gym)

Drawing Club Peter (Library)

Netball Club Mr Maxfield and Miss Perry (Gym)

Break 2

Crossover Club Mr Hough (Gym)

Lego Club Mrs Kaur (Library) Everyone welcome

Chill Out Club Miss Betty (2T Classroom)

Music Club Mr Wright (Music Room)

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

Olivia from Lala Music has a couple of spots open to students who would like to learn

how to play the drums. Lessons take place every Tuesday at 3:45pm.

Please contact Olivia on 0419 131 868 if you would like more information or to book in

your child.

Star of the Week

Foundation B Bell

Awarded to: Harrison King For: doing his best in all areas of learning

Foundation P Perry

Awarded to: Nicole Baxter For: coming into the classroom happily each morning

Foundation S Starkey

Awarded to: Lulu Inkson For: always helping others succeed in the classroom

Year 1C Capito

Awarded to: Edmund Conley For: helping others succeed in the classroom

Year 1F Fawcett

Awarded to: Alyxandra Guiton For: demonstrating doing her best when practising her letter sounds

Year 1M McCormick

Awarded to: Marley Clifton For: always trying his best during writing. Well done Marley!

Year 1P Powell

Awarded to: Chloe Young For: doing her best and fluently counting by 10s when starting at any number

Year 2TR Reid/Betty Awarded to: Jarrah Lorimer For: Congratulations Jarrah on working so hard with your reading. You have been super persistent.

Year 2C Cook

Awarded to: Cleo Inkson For: always helping others succeed

Year 2L Layton

Awarded to: Elizabeth Munro For: persisting in telling the time. Well done!

Year 3A Walsh

Awarded to: Jackson Burgiel For: showing enthusiasm in his writing and producing an amazing narrative. Keep it up Jackson!

Year 3J Walsh

Awarded to: Archie Mathews For: being an enthusiastic class member. Well done!

Year 3O Overton

Awarded to: Alexis Penna-Ryan For: having a growth mindset towards her learning

Year 4K Kaur

Awarded to: Bailey Brander For: being an enthusiastic class member and always doing his best during learning time

Year 4L Leslie

Awarded to: Hayley Chalmers For: helping other succeed by always contributing to a positive learning environment

Year 4V Vitale

Awarded to: Isaiah Ekhator For: consistently doing his best learning and participating during class discussions

Year 5DY Dunstone/Yeo

Awarded to: Philip Habib For: his continued concentration and contribution to class discussions

Year 5P Panahinejad

Awarded to: Tèa Morrell For: doing her personal best in her learning

Year 6M Maxfield

Awarded to: Joshua Corps For: working hard to achieve his goals

Year 6S Goetzke

Awarded to: Jake Flenley For: having a great attitude towards his learning

Congratulations to Philip Habib from year 5 who received a Gold

Mathletics award this week. Keep up the great work Philip!

SEEKING TRAVELLING BEARS SPONSORS

During 2017 our students were involved in a Vacation Bears Program. Each student in year 4 was given a toy

bear. The bears were then sent on a vacation. They travelled with their own homemade passport and a journal.

Friends and family (and some teachers) took the bears on vacation and sent back a photo and postcard to the

child and wrote in the bear’s journal. The students then researched the bear’s travel destination(s). It was a way

of connecting the world to our students, many of whom have not been outside of Victoria. This real life

authentic project allowed our students to better understand the world around them.

This initiative was so successful in 2017 that we are looking for another sponsor for 2018. We require 70 toy

bears around 20cm tall or sponsorship to purchase them at approximately $10 each.

Sponsoring businesses will be featured prominently in our school newsletter and could also be featured within

the bear’s journals.

If you would like any more information about our Vacation Bears Program please don’t hesitate to contact us on

9716 2140.

Debra Armstrong

Leader Teacher (3/4 Team)

SCHOOL CHAPLAIN REPORT

Woodcraft Club off to a good start

Woodcraft Club has moved to the Intervention Room (Matt Dunstone’s old room in the portable building near

the basketball courts). It is still in the first break of Mondays. The Students have been quick to remember the

change and already I seem to be having people on every seat in the room (28 seats). So far, the projects have

been model houses with a paddle pop stick roof and last Monday vehicles that could be embellished any way

they wished, once the wheels were on.

Before the break, I arrange the tables and wood trays for maximum room use. I also make sure the glue pot

spouts are flowing. This year, Stuart Maxwell is my supervising teacher and together we support students who

are having construction difficulty. I have eleven pots of glue, a couple of hammers, a few simple saws, one

workbench with vices and one large hand drill. Some of the students only want to cut or drill while others wish

to make something to take away. I try to cater for both types to make it a positive experience within the safety

constraints.

Peter Ackland - School Chaplain

MINDFULNESS

~Week 3~ Being a Good Sport

Being mindful of breath and using breath to keep us in the present moment was taught to

all of our students this week. This technique cultivates awareness of self and others and a

strong aptitude for curiosity and learning. This week’s class plan gave students the

opportunity to discuss different ways they could work as an individual within a team and

collectively as a team in order to successfully participate in cooperative class games.

Sportsmanship can show a lot about our character. When children learn good sportsmanship and healthy

collaboration with peers they can begin to demonstrate graceful winning and losing. With increased partner work

and team work we focus on cultivating positive relationships and building community. The activities aligned with

this week’s value and explored effective communication of ideas, listening to one another, encouraging each

other, sharing responsibilities and making decisions that would benefit the whole team. Through engaging games

and incorporating fundamental movements, students were able to put their ideas into practise!

Children demonstrated cooperation by working together and being really helpful team players. Students gave

examples of how we can cooperate in the classroom, home and playground. By being an active participant in the

class, the children were able to recognise how much can be achieved when working with others in positive ways.

Through communication with one another, listening and collaborating the whole team benefits, not just

themselves.

Parents/carers: Ask your child to demonstrate the breath/mindfulness they learned this week or a movement

they enjoyed.

Family self-care tip: Turn off all technology for at least 20 minutes and have a meaningful conversation.

COLES SPORTS FOR SCHOOLS

Please start collecting your vouchers from Coles and drop

them into the school office. The more vouchers we collect the

more equipment we can receive for our students!

2018 BOOKLIST FEES, EXCURSION LEVY & CSEF

The Booklist Levy this year is $230 and the first instalment of $55.00 was due on 28th February followed by

payments due on 27th April, 29th June and 31st August.

The excursion/incursion levy for 2018 is $80.00 per student. This levy can be paid in full or by two instalments

of $40 each. The first instalment of $40 was due on 28th February 2017 and the second is due by 29th June

2018.

Please note that families who hold a current health care / pension card may be

entitled to claim the Camp Sport & Excursion Fund (CSEF) payment, forms are

available at the school office. If you applied and received the CSEF payment in

2017 you do not need to reapply this year, it will be done automatically for you.

CAR PARKING

The Church kindly lets our school families use their car park. Please reverse park, and keep to the actual car

park area and do not park on any grass or lawn area. Driving beyond the front car park is not permitted.

Also, please do not use the disabled car park in the church car park or in the staff car park unless you

have a disability permit, we do have parents that require the use of this space. Thank you.

2019 ENROLMENTS

SCHOOL TOUR & INFORMATION SESSION

THURSDAY 8th MARCH 6:15PM

2019 FOUNDATION ENROLMENTS

NOW OPEN

PARENT HELPERS TRAINING

At Whittlesea Primary School we value parents and caregivers supporting us in the classrooms. It is

important for students to see that there is a partnership between families and school. All helpers must have

attended a Parent Helpers training session and hold a current Working with Children card.

We will be running two parent helper training sessions on Tuesday 6th March. The first session will run

from 2:15pm to 3:15pm and the second session from 6:30pm – 7:30pm. Childcare will be available at both

sessions to support families who would like to attend. We would love to see you there.

When: Tuesday 6th March at 2:15pm or 6:30pm

Location: Staffroom

For organisational purposes please return the slip below if you would like to attend. Please indicate if you

will be requiring childcare.

Please return to the school office by Friday 2nd March.

Regards

Debra Armstrong Matt Dunstone

Leading Teacher Leading Teacher

Mathematics Literacy

Parent/Guardian Name: __________________________________________________________

Student Name: __________________________________________________________________

Session preferred:

Tuesday 6th March 2:15pm

Tuesday 6th March 6:30pm

I will be requiring childcare for ________ children aged ______________________________________

Signed: ___________________________________

COMMUNITY NEWS

Become a Teacher's Aide Certificate III in Education Support: (MAR 2018) THIS QUALIFICATION WILL GIVE YOU THE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT TO TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN A RANGE OF EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS. THIS INCLUDES PRIMARY, SECONDARY & SPECIAL DEVELOPMENT SCHOOLS & AREAS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION GRADUATES WORK AS:

EDUCATION ASSISTANTS/TEACHER AIDES

SUPPORT WORKERS (WORKING WITH CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES)

Course Details: TUES. 27 MAR— 27 NOV. 2018 29 SESSIONS, 2 WORKSHOPS + 100 HR PLACEMENT 10:00AM TO 3.00PM at WHITTLESEA SECONDARY COLLEGE - CRTTC

Hospitality Basics

Develop the basic skills needed to work as a Kitchen Hand or Front of House service in a café or restaurant.

In this course you will develop:

Essential food safety & hygiene practices for commercial kitchen work

Develop skills in front of house service

Safe@Work awareness

Basic practices in cleaning premises & equipment

Good work habits & self-management skills

Communication skills including interview preparation

Thursdays, 9.30am—3.30pm, from 8th March – 24th May, duration 10 sessions at Merrilands Community Centre, Reservoir

Cost: Concession: $50, Full: $75, Fee for Service: $650 + Service & Amenities Fee Ring PRACE on 9462 6077 or visit our website: www.prace.vic.edu.au