Parkhill Primary School Newsletter

Issue 8 Friday 19 March, 2021

Principal's Message

Dear Parents/Carers,

What a fantastically busy week we have seen this week!  It was wonderful to hear of the success of Twilight Sports - I hear the children and parents were on fire!! I would like to apologise to those families who came along for the activities at 6pm to find they had already started. It would seem that the staff were super keen to get going and lost track of the timing. 

With only a couple of weeks left before our Easter break it’s a great time to reflect on the amount of things that have been happening throughout term 1. We have really seen our STEAM program grow and student engagement with the hands-on inquiry learning program is outstanding. Science week activities are happening next week, as well as inquiry maths and copious amounts of writing happening throughout the school!  We hosted the GATEWAYS program this week for the first time in over a year - it’s so super to feel some normality again. 

Our Bullying No Way! day was a super way to engage the children in thinking about being active citizens. Thanks to our SRC and Alex Davies for organising this event. There are further activities to follow during Care Groups next week. 

Please look out for your class reps emails coming home soon! 

PLAYGROUND REPORTING:

If the children experience any difficulty at play time or lunch time they can fill in a playground report. This report is then given to the teacher who can help the child to solve the problem or escalate if needed. The reports are collated by the class teachers. We use the data to ensure that supervision is in the right places, to identify repeat behaviours and put things in place to ensure they are reduced and also to advise our SEL programs. You might want to discuss the reporting system with your child at home.

BRAIN FOOD

We have been very lucky to work closely with Woolworths Ashwood this term. Woolworths are donating food packages to school for us to distribute alongside fresh fruit. We now have ample fresh fruit in classrooms for children to access throughout the day!  Thank you Woolworths!     


REMINDERS:

  • 2021 school fees (Essential Education Items) are overdue – if you have not yet paid this fee please contact the office ASAP. A statement was issued in the first week of March if your account was outstanding. It is important to note that the school has to subsidise any fees that are not paid by families. These subsidies are paid out of our curriculum budgets.

  • Morning drop off: Supervision on the playground is only from 8:45am.  

  • It is important to remember that you are always welcome to meet with your class teacher and I encourage you to make appointments throughout the year to touch base and talk about your child’s learning progress. 

Have a wonderful weekend,


Elaine Brady

Principal

Calendar of Curriculum Events

Monday 22 March - SDSSA District Athletics (selected students)

Tuesday 23 March - Camp Connect Information Session 5pm in Library (selected students only)

Thursday 1 April - Term 1 ends at 2:30pm

Thursday 19 April - Term 2 starts

Student of the Week

F/1A - Mai V

F/1B - Kira T

F/1C - Karl W

2/3A - Xavier T

2/3B - Jessica Z

4/5A - Kara D

4/5B - Will M

4/5C - Charlie W

6A - Hamish L

6B  - Sasha P

Y2/3 Food Drive

The Y2/3s are organising a food drive for charity as our Inquiry unit action. We would like for you to donate these types of food.

  • Canned Foods
  • Pasta
  • Cereals
  • Grains
  • Sultanas

And any other food that will not go bad or mouldy quickly. If you have any please any of these bring it to the office from 22/03 to 26/03.

Please donate generously.

Jaiyana 2/3A and Olivia 2/3B

Y6 have been Waging a War on Waste

Recently, we've been looking at sustainable and more ecologically friendly fabrics. We've tried our hand at being material scientists and fashion designers and now we're looking for some action with impact at a personal and community level. And so....

Y6 presents the first inaugural Parkhill Swap Shop! We invite you to bring in any unwanted clothing, things that don't fit or are no longer your style, so we can offer them up as a trade. Bring in a piece of serviceable clothing that is clean and has been recently washed and we'll give your child a token. That token will allow them to trade for another piece of clothing during a market bazaar in the last week of term. Please bring in everything and anything you have! The idea of clearing out a wardrobe is to NOT bring back a perfect one-to-one, so we'll limit the trades to five items even if you bring in a bag of clothes.

Bring them to your classroom teacher, NOT the front office.

Chris Logan

Y6 Teacher

Garden news!

 Y6 students continue to enjoy their garden cooking classes - the change of venue has not slowed them down! They are making good use of the produce coming out of our garden.

Science Week

Next week is Science Week. We will be exploring Food Science across the school. Food Science is a multi-disciplinary field involving chemistry, biochemistry, nutrition, microbiology and engineering to give one the scientific knowledge to solve real problems associated with the many facets of the food system. 

Call for Volunteers for Diversity Day

We are planning to celebrate the diversity of our community with our upcoming event, Diversity Day. Students will participate in activities throughout the morning (from 9:00-12:40) that explore diverse ideas and cultural experiences they may not have already encountered. It will help students to develop knowledge, understanding and skills in the Intercultural capability in the Victorian Curriculum. 

This year our Diversity Day is going to be on Tuesday 4th of May in term 2.

If you would like to share your expertise about your culture, through for example, story telling, craft activities, dance (body movement), painting, drawing, traditional costumes, or a special artefact, we would love to have you present in our Diversity Day!

Please email Shuoyin at shuoyin.tu@education.vic.gov.au if you would like to join us. Alternatively, you can download and fill in the attached  form at the office.

Sharing time can be varied from 5 mins - 40 mins depending on the type of activity.

I hope that you can join us!

Shuoyin Tu

Mandarin specialist teacher

Download

The F/1s Enjoying Our Lovely Library!

PFA News - March 19

Hey Parkhill,

Please welcome your PFA members for 2021!

Executive committee:

President:  Rossanne Clay                  

Vice  President: Kyle Brown

Treasurer:  Sumi Sundram

Secretary/Communications:  Kylie Touloupis

General Members:  

Elle Delmee, Vanessa Cowley, Trish King


The PFA AGM was held on Thursday night and the community is fortunate that we were able to fill all executive committee positions.

This ensures the PFA can continue to support the families and children of Parkhill through fun events and activities that we all enjoy.

Thank you to you all, incoming and outgoing – we are extremely grateful for all your hard work.

 

BASKETBALL RINGS ARE BACK

Due to all your fundraising efforts in 2020, where the community banded together to raise just over $2,400, the school was able to purchase new basketball rings to keep this much-loved sport alive at Parkhill while the hall rebuild is taking place.

Thank you to everyone, every contribution helps big or small.

It’s great to see the buzz of happy, busy ballers on the asphalt again.


EASTER RAFFLE

Easter is upon us and this year our much loved, ‘Parkhill Easter Raffle’ has made a comeback!

How to get involved:

Donate an Easter themed treat to the office by 29th March. (Thankyou)

Buy a raffle ticket or 5! (check the bottom of the school bag or grab a book from the office)

Cross your fingers on April 1st! (winners drawn at assembly)

 

PARENTS BIG NIGHT OUT - DJ or RSA? We need you!

Our Parents Big Night out survey is about to close. We’ll keep you posted on the winning event suggestion.

It’s exciting! Not to give anything away – but while we’re talking events, if anyone in the community has an RSA (responsible service of alcohol certificate) – to help behind the bar at future events or is, was or wants to be a DJ (to help us raise the roof!) we would love to hear from you! Please email to get in touch!
parents.friends.secretary@gmail.com

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