Parkhill Primary School Newsletter

Issue 29, Friday 17 September 2021

Principal's Message

Dear Parent and Carers,

As we come to the close of another term mostly undertaken through remote learning, we hope that the holidays bring time to relax and recharge, enjoying the warmer spring weather and a little break from the screen. Although we don’t know yet what term 4 will look like, we are hopeful of a return to on-site learning as early as possible. The school is preparing for a number of possibilities including a full return to on-site learning at the beginning of term 4 or a staggered return with the likelihood of junior classes commencing first and a continuation of remote learning. The government’s roadmap announcement this Sunday should provide clear direction forward and once we have this information we will communicate our plans in the week before school begins.

In my short time at Parkhill, I have been impressed with the way our students have engaged in their daily learning activities. They have shown great persistence, even when motivation and enthusiasm has indeed been challenged. I would like to thank all the students, families and staff for the considerable work you have done this term.

If you are looking for ideas on what to do at home these holidays, the Department of Education has provided some school holiday activities at the following web address: https://www.together.vic.gov.au/children

This website has lots of ideas for getting out in nature (even in our own backyards or local parks) as well as craft activities, science experiments and literacy activities.

Please note: Due to the late delivery of individual NAPLAN student reports to the school, these will not be sent home until the beginning of term 4. 


Wishing everyone a safe and relaxing term break, 


David Wells

Acting Principal

Calendar of Curriculum Events - Term 4

Monday 4 October - Term 4 begins

Monday 11 October - ICAS Writing (selected students)

Wednesday 13 October - GATEWAYS Eureka (selected Y4-6 students)

Thursday 14 October - GATEWAYS Eureka (selected Y1-3 students)

Monday 18 October - ICAS English (selected students)

Monday 25 October - ICAS Science (selected students)

Thursday 28 October - Musica Viva Rhythm Works

Monday 1 November - Curriculum Day - no students attend school on this day

Tuesday 2 November - Melbourne Cup Public Holiday

Monday 8 November - ICAS Maths (selected students)

Thursday 18 November - Scholastic Book Fair begins

Tuesday 23 November - Friday 26 November - Y5/6 Camp Candlebark

Thursday 2 December - Fun, Food & Carols

Wednesday 15 December - Y6 Graduation

Friday 17 December - Term 4 and 2021 School Year ends at 1:30pm


Please note that these events are subject to Covid-19 restrictions and are subject to change and/or cancellation.

Have a great school holiday break!

Parkhill Primary’s Land Care Grant to Plant a Local Bush Tucker Garden

Parkhill Primary is excited to announce our successful grant approval from Landcare Australia. The Victorian Government, through the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is providing grants to support a range of school activities to help protect, improve and expand habitats for Victoria’s native plants and animals.

Our school project is to plant a local bush tucker garden in our learning space to enhance our students understanding and passion for sustainable food sourcing. We are in discussion with the Wurundjeri Council who has agreed to partner with us and help drive this initiative.

Parkhill Primary hopes this garden will give students a space to not only learn about our school’s local Wurundjeri culture, but also to provide them with a quiet place to learn and reflect.

We are extremely excited to see where this project takes us. 

School Council Update

Parkhill's School Council met last night via the ever-familiar Google Meet platform. There were two key points from this month's meeting that I wanted to relay through the newsletter. First, in relation to the school's NAPLAN results (outlined by David last week), it is promising to see a marked improvement in Writing and Spelling over the past few years. Writing was identified during our School Review a couple of years ago as a particular area for focus. The outcomes this year demonstrate that the strategies targeting this area of the curriculum have made a difference. Credit goes to school leaders and teachers for setting and implementing a plan and sticking to it over the past few years to achieve this result. 

Second, the parents on School Council want to thank our teachers for the hard work they have put in over the past few months to keep our kids engaged. Our teaching teams have continually adapted by listening to students and parents, and by being willing to try different approaches. We are fortunate to have such a dedicated group of teachers here at Parkhill.

Meetings of School Council are conducted monthly during school terms, and all councillors are open to discussion with anyone in our school community. School Councillors in 2021 are: Melo Conti, Wendy Douglas, Chris Logan, Lucy Magura, Pip Papageorgiou, Jo Ravida, Tania Rose, Jay Van Schyndel, Clare Sherman, Michelle Smith, Sumi Sundram and David Wells.


Enjoy the holidays as best you can,

Dan Edwards

School Council President

Policy Update - September 2021

Last week, Policy committee met to review three policies: Asthma, Bicycles and Scooters, and Photography and Filming Students.

 

The Asthma policy has only a few changes from its last iteration. It describes in depth the condition of asthma, how it is managed in the school in the event of an asthma attack and staff training. It also describes emergency situations. Even though there are few changes, it is good to review every year to keep this condition and the school’s management of it in the forefront of our minds.

 

The Bicycles and Scooters policy is a local policy and details how students are to conduct themselves with these vehicles around the school, including appropriate hours of use and safety elements. Student safety is our primary concern with this policy.

 

The Photography, Filming and Recording Students policy details how images of students will be used at school, including parent consent, official photos, special events, and what is expected to happen to images after they are taken.


Don’t forget you can join us at any time - we welcome new members and what better time to start than now! Our next expected meeting will be very early in term 4. Send me a note via email on michelle.smith@education.vic.gov.au and I’ll add you to the list!

Cultivating Communities - Special Offer

We have a special offer for the pupils at Parkhill Primary School.

This is a FREE opportunity for students to join these two school holiday online workshops as an additional benefit for being part of our school gardens community.

For any teacher or parent to access these free events for their child they have a special code: FREECARROTS

 

Follow these instructions to apply the code:

  • Visit the event page https://www.cultivatingcommunity.org.au/shop
  • Click ‘RSVP’
  • Select the quantity of tickets you would like
  • On the right-hand side above the name of the event and below the ‘Time remaining’ countdown, you will find ‘Enter coupon code’
  • Paste the code you have received and hit enter on your keyboard
  • Your purchase total should amount to $0
  • Get in touch with our team if you have any issues
  •  

    The events are:

    Wonderful worms and super seeds!! We have four upcoming kids workshops in September to get you gardening at home! ??‍??‍?

    Suitable for children 6 to 12 years, our webinars will nourish your child's curiosity and nurture their interest in sustainable gardening ?

    Visit our website to book: https://www.cultivatingcommunity.org.au/shop

     

    ? Worms Wonderful Worms ?

    Suitable for children 6 to 12 years we will take a look into the world of worms. What do they get up to when nobody is looking? What is the difference between earthworms and composting worms? And how to make your own in-ground worm farm to promote free-range worms and healthy soil in your garden.

     

    Wednesday, 22 September 2021 from 10:00-11:00AM

    Thursday, 30 September 2021 from 1:00-2:00PM

     

    ? Super Seeds! ?

    Let's take a look at some seed-saving activities that you can do at home to help make seed sowing, seed saving, and seed distribution fun, creative, and a little different. In this webinar will take a look at making some Seed Tape, Seed packets for seed storage, and Seed Bombs for seed distribution. Simone will show you how to make these seed creations, so come armed with as many of the items listed as you can.

     

    Thursday, 23 September 2021 from 10:00-11:00AM

    Wednesday, 29 September 2021 from 1:00-2:00PM

     

    Visit our website to book: https://www.cultivatingcommunity.org.au/shop

    PFA News - September 17

    Executive Committee:

    President: Rossanne Clay                  

    Vice President: Kylie Brown

    Treasurer: Sumi Sundram

    Secretary/Communications: Kylie Touloupis

    General Members: Elle Delmee, Vanessa Cowley, Trish King, Marinda Tanner, Jo Argaet


    PARKHILL TRIVIA FUN!

    FREE FAMILY FUN

    We can't wait to see you at the "Parkhill Primary School Extravaganza Quiz!" It's happening this Sunday 19th September at 3pm online. All you need to do is REGISTER FOR FREE, via this Trybooking link: https://www.trybooking.com/BUCHN

    Melo, Ru and Conner (three awesome dads at Parkhill) will be hosting a fun Kahoot! quiz over Zoom.

    There will be three rounds:

    Round 1: Foundation to Year 2;

    Round 2: Year 3 to Year 6;

    Short 10 minute break;

    Round 3: Family/adult quiz.

    Once you register we will send you the login details and the fun will commence. Happy Quizzing!

    PARKHILL FAMILY TRIVIA - We are using two apps to bring the quiz to you at home: 1) Zoom on one device - this is the video conferencing tool that allows you to hear the host and see the quiz questions 2) Kahoot! on another device - this is what we have used to create our quiz. It allows your team to play remotely and keeps track of the leader board.

    FUN, FOOD & CAROLS

    We’re setting up a committee for Fun, Food and Carols (which will be Thursday 2nd December) to help create a wider community event for our school and beyond. If you’d like to be part of designing this fun event, please contact Rossanne 0480 171 847.

    Welcome to the Lions Club of Ashwood-Mt Waverley. Lions Clubs are part of community life, in the cities and in the country. Clubs are easily identified by their distinctive Logo, the trademark of our International Association, and the 'We Serve'; motto.

    Alamein Neighbourhood and Learning Centre Inc. Term 4 Program

    Download

    A friendly social and recreational group for Mandarin-speaking seniors. Develop and practice your English skills. Enjoy the opportunity to make new social connections and learn new life skills...

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    Simply scroll to the bottom of this newsletter, click 'select language' choose the language you would like to read the newsletter in and that's It!