Canley Vale Public School

 Good afternoon everyone, welcome to Week 8. Mr Matthews is currently on leave and in his absence I will be relieving as Principal and Mr Towers will be relieving as Deputy Principal. We will see Mr Matthews back in Week 9.

Harmony Week Harmony Week celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. This is a poignant message reflecting on recent events in New Zealand. It is important to share the messages of unity, whether this be in grief as we feel at the moment, or whether this be in friendship as we celebrate our diversity and appreciate our shared values. We thank everyone for their support either wearing orange clothes, participating in the various activities associated with Harmony Week, or providing orange food for us to enjoy from our canteen.

Christchurch We are all affected in some way by this tragic event. Please know that we are here for you. People may feel the need to share their anger, sorrow and acknowledge loss, even if they are not directly impacted by the event. It is important that all those who feel affected can access support. School counselling staff will be available to support students. If students would like to speak with someone anonymously confidential sources of support are:

• Kids Helpline (1800 551 800 or www.kidshelp.com.au)
• Headspace (1800 650 890 or www.eheadspace.org.au)

Leukaemia Foundation If you joined us on Wednesday morning, we watched one of our very brave teachers, Mr Papas, participate in the  ‘Shave the World From Blood Cancer’ cause. We saw him lose his luscious locks to raise awareness and money to help those with leukaemia and related blood disorders. The money raised helps people to survive and then live a better quality of life. Thank you to all those families who enabled their children to participate and donate gold coins for this charity. Check out our Facebook page for some fantastic crazy hair dos! Mr Papas advises that he has raised in excess of $4000. If you would like to donate please do so via this link http://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/brentpapas

Early Action for Success (EAfS) Team Visit We were very fortunate to have Kristie O’Neill (Professional Learning Coordinator for EAfS), Rebecca Kerron (Instructional Leader) and Terri Lyn Guimond (Principal of a private school in Alberta Canada), visit CVPS this week. Our visitors were here to observe an initiative started by our Deputy Principal Instructional Leaders across our K-4 classes. The ‘Collaborative Learning Cycles’ guide professional Learning for our teachers. Our visitors were “blown away” with the progress that has been made. The team had the opportunity to visit KP and were suitably impressed with what they saw happening in the classroom. Congratulations to Mrs Capra and Mrs Ross for all the wonderful work they have done upskilling our teachers and students.

Year 1 Excursion This week our students from Year 1 attended an excursion to Fairfield Living Museum. The students have been learning about Australian history and studying the unit  ‘Past, Present Family Life’. Our students were fortunate enough to experience what it was like to live in the olden days of Australia. Seeing how our ancestors washed clothes, shopped, made materials and were educated. A bit of an eye opener for us all! Thanks to all the wonderful teachers and staff who participated in this excursion.

NAPLAN A NAPLAN Online practice test will be held next week for Year 3 (Tuesday 26 March) and Year 5 (Thursday 28 March). The practice test will give students and staff the opportunity to become familiar with the test using a computer, in preparation for NAPLAN 14-24 May in Term 2. All Year 3 and Year 5 students are asked to bring in a cheap set of headphones or earbuds to keep at school for the test. Please see the attached note for more information about NAPLAN.

Parent-Teacher-Student Interviews Bookings can be made online for interviews that will be held during week 10-11 this term. Go to schoolinterviews.com.au and use the code AAJBQ to make a booking. See the attached note for instructions. Bookings close on Thursday 28 March at 4pm. If you have any enquiries please contact your child’s teacher.

P&C Annual General Meeting (AGM)Our AGM was held on Thursday and I am pleased to announce our Committee, as voted by our financial members. Our returning President is Mrs Deborah Holdsworth; Vice Presidents are Maria Jaimes and Muy Heak Ung; Secretary is Evelyn Escobar; and Treasurer is Veakny Tran. Congratulations to all the committee members and we look forward to working with you again in 2019.

Year 6 Camp Next Week students and teachers will be attending the Great Aussie Bush Camp up on the Central Coast at Kincumber. Last year I was fortunate enough to attend and I know your children will have an absolute ball! It is a fantastic opportunity for the children to bond with their teachers and make some new friendships and connections before heading off to High School. Activities include water activities such as canoeing and obstacle courses; height activities to test their nerve and night activities which are so much fun. Thanks to our dedicated teachers for giving their time to attend this camp and provide your children with a once in a lifetime experience.

Breaking News Ms Lam Phuong has given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Faith. She was born on 21st March @ 10.00am. Both mother and daughter are doing well!

Have a great weekend.

Kerry Plimmer

Relieving Principal

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Last year CVPS was lucky enough to win a grant from the NSW Teacher's Federation for $363. We purchased native trees and shrubs and have now planted these into our gardens. Our school's Garden Club was very excited to spot these new plants in the gardens. We are busy working with P&C, parents and the GA's to continue to beautify our gardens. We also hope to teach our students about sustainability. Thank you to everyone involved and many thanks to the Teacher's Federation for helping us achieve our goals. 

On behalf of the Garden Club

(Ms Marcelja)