Parkhill Primary School Newsletter

Issue 26 Friday 18 September, 2020

Principal's Message

Dear Parents/Carers

What a monumental term this has been! 

It always amazes me how quickly time flies by! We are heading into term 4 where we start to prepare and think about planning for the coming academic year. 2020 has been such a different environment for all of us, including the children. To stay home and not attend school has been incredibly challenging, however there have been positives too! Below is a selection of work samples from the children for you to enjoy.

Social Emotional Learning:

Everyone has bad days. As adults we are aware of our moods and feelings and are better equipped to manage ourselves around such events. Children often are left frustrated, angry and confused when their day goes wrong. Check the article below for some handy helpful ways and ideas to support your child when they have a bad day!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/on-parenting/how-to-teach-a-child-to-reset-after-a-bad-day-without-fixing-their-problems-for-them/2019/08/22/8761489a-b21e-11e9-8949-5f36ff92706e_story.html?noredirect=on

Enjoying some down time during holidays is important – families enjoy activities and quiet time. We all welcome the break from school, even homeschooling! However, for some of us, more time together is not a break. Having spent so long in isolation the pressure between siblings is building – constant fighting, arguing and competition is exhausting. Here are some tips for you to help combat those sibling moments… 

https://emotion-focused.com.au/managing-sibling-rivalry-school-holidays/

Enrolments: 

I remind those of you who have little ones transitioning to school next year to ensure you have your enrolment paperwork submitted. Next term we will launch our online Storytime and virtual tour.

Online enrolments can be made using the following link: https://forms.gle/2u6289Szpowgwur78

Social stories and resources for Return to School:

As we prepare some of the children to return to school we may find increased anxiety and worry about what it will look like. The week 1 content for our lower school is all about return to school and refamiliarising the children with their surroundings. The link below hosts some resources that you may also find helpful if your child is showing signs of anxiety or worry about coming back onsite. Again, as always, please do let me know if you have concerns and we will work together to put strategies in place to help support that transition back into school life.  

https://sites.google.com/education.vic.gov.au/lfh-with-pps

I do sincerely hope you all have a relaxing break and stay safe.  

Please reach out if you need support, help or have any feedback at all to offer elaine.brady@education.vic.gov.au

Take care and very best wishes,

Elaine Brady

Principal


Calendar of Curriculum Events

Monday 5th October - Term 4 starts. Online learning commences for Foundation - Y6

Monday 12th October -  Return to School Foundation - Y3

2020 CSEF

New changes to the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) will apply for the rest of 2020 to provide more support to families in need.

As many families are now facing financial difficulty and camps and excursions are being delayed, CSEF can now be used for voluntary school charges, books and stationery costs in 2020. Therefore any current families who have CSEF in 2020 we will be allocating this money to the Essential Education Items fee ($300) if it is outstanding on your account.  If you have paid this fee, your CSEF will be carried over into 2021 to be used for future excursions, camp or swimming.

CSEF eligibility for Term 2 (up to Tuesday 14 April 2020) has been extended so that and families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible for CSEF up to 5 October 2020. So if you’re circumstances have changed, please apply ASAP for CSEF.  Please email the office for a form.

5/6 Sport Levy Refund

Emails were sent out on Tuesday to families who will receive a refund for their payment of the 5/6 Sport Levy.  Thank you to those families who have replied.  For those families who are getting a refund back, please reply to the email with your bank account details ASAP so these can start to be processed at the beginning of next term. 

If you have any questions, please email me at jo.ravida@education.vic.gov.au

Jo Ravida

Business Manager

School Council Corner

Parkhill PS School Council had its final meeting for term 3 last night. One highlight of the meeting was the update on progress relating to teacher Professional Development and Peer Observations which has been occurring throughout our term of ‘virtual learning’. It is impressive to hear how our PHPS teachers are communicating, sharing ideas and working constructively on the tasks they are developing for our kids each day. As we have all been adapting to the current conditions, so too have our teachers – and the innovative ideas that they have been implementing for student learning and in terms of peer feedback and learning is impressive.

Congratulations and thanks to the team who planned and ran the Father's Day Trivia – we look forward to more ways of connecting our community in term 4. We said our goodbyes to Eva Conley last night who has stepped down from her role as Community Opted member. I would like to take the opportunity to thank her for the work she has done at Parkhill and her contribution to the Marketing Group.

Your School Council members are always willing to discuss issues with you and bring items to attention during meetings. 2020 members are: Chris Logan, Kirstin Majidi, Liz O’Meara, Pip Papageorgiou, Jo Ravida, Tania Rose, Clare Sherman, Michelle Smith, Sumi Sundram, Kylie Touloupis, Freya Wong and Elaine Brady.

Enjoy the break!

Dan

Home Learning Update

TOPSY TURVEY TALE PUPPETS AND DIORAMAS

The F/1s have been busy creating, making and performing their own Topsy Turvy Tales. The had to choose their favourite fairy tale then change the characters and setting to make it a Topsy Turvy Tale. They then built a diorama of the wetting of their story, made their Topsy Turvy characters into puppets and performed their puppet shows. 

Wellbeing Week!

Express Yourself!

 The Y4/5 students celebrated the end of their inquiry topic "Express Yourself" with an Art Exhibition.

Students have been learning about the things that inspire them - and then practicing putting their inspiration into action! Students completed an art piece and then wrote an accompanying artists' statement to explain their thinking behind it.

Here are some examples of work from 4/5O. We hope you enjoy!


5/6 CAFÉ Reading – Make and Adjust Mental Images

This week Y5/6 have revisited the ‘Make and adjust mental images’ CAFÉ reading strategy. Visualising or making a mental image assists readers to understand what they read. The secret to success is identifying details in the text, combining them with prior knowledge and then putting together your own mind movie. When readers visualise in this way they remember more of what they read and hear.

Here are some 5/6 visualisations about the poem ‘The Homework Machine’ by Shel Silverstein.

The Homework Machine, Oh, the Homework Machine, Most perfect contraption that's ever been seen. Just put in your homework, then drop in a dime, Snap on the switch, and in ten seconds' time, Your homework comes out, quick and clean as can be. Here it is— 'nine plus four?' and the answer is 'three.' Three? Oh me . . . I guess it's not as perfect As I thought it would be.

Chaplain’s Corner

Well we made it to the end of term 3. What a strange term it has been, one I’m sure we won’t forget in a hurry. But we did it. One way or another we did it and that’s something we can all be proud of.  

I’m so proud of you all for hanging in there, for reaching out for help when you needed it, for trying your best to keep your kids motivated, to keep learning, for being resilient and open to doing things in a different way. Watching you has encouraged and inspired me as I see the way you’ve cared for your kids and reached out with compassion to help others. I’m sure we are all tired and weary from juggling the unique demands of this season but we can be proud of the children too, the work they have achieved, their growing independence and resilience.  

Parkhill you are a fantastic community, keep on going and growing. As we exit lockdown we are going to need each other to put things back together again into something resembling normality. Hope you can get some rest over the holidays, even if it’s just a break from home learning.  

Suzanne Carmody 

Chaplain 

PFA News 18 September 2020

Office Bearers:

President: Rossanne Clay       

Vice President: Vacant

Treasurer: Vacant

Secretary/Communications: Kylie Touloupis

General Members:  

Elle Delmee, Wendy Douglas, Donna Edwards, Sumi Sundram, Vanessa Cowley

Next Meeting: Monday 19th October 8.30pm (online)

 

TICK TOCK PARKHILL!

How many hoops can you shoot? Always dreamed of filling your cheeks with Marshmallows? Ever wondered how many times you could write your name in 1 minute? Well watch this space the Challenge-a-thon is on its way!

News from the PFA President

Dear Parkhill Families,

We have two members resigning from their role due to increasing other commitments and so we are looking for new recruits. Being part of the PFA provides an opportunity to add enormous value to the school, students and community through fundraising for amenities and by creating social activities that bring families and students together fostering the wonderful Parkhill community.

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY

With so few events happening in our covid calendar year, it's a great time to try out the PFA and see if we are a fit. Have a chat with one of the team or jump onto one of our monthly calls. We would love more volunteers to brainstorm new ideas, and connect us to others in our community.

YOUR HIDDEN TALENT

If there is one thing you would love to help us with, that is your specialty area, please let us know so we can add you to our list of fantastic on-call members. Remember nothing is obligatory. We understand better than anyone that a "No" could mean "Next time". But letting us know what you would love to do for the school will help us when we plan our events.

The two vacant roles where we are looking for new recruits are Vice President and Treasurer.

Vice President:

To chair the monthly meetings when the President is unavailable

To coordinate events/activities in conjunction with the President, Secretary, Treasurer and general committee members

To be approachable by members of the school communities

Treasurer:

To follow the DET Money Handling Guidelines

To provide a Treasurer's Report reflecting income vs expenditure to the PFA committee meetings

To coordinate events/activities in conjunction with the President, Vice President, Secretary and general committee members

Remember to say 'Parkhill Primary School' when shopping at these stores!


Remember to say “Parkhill Primary School” before you pay at Bakers Delight Ashburton, Chadstone, Oakleigh and Oakleigh Links to have 5% of the sale go towards our school!      

The school's 4-digit code is 5565.


Ritchies Community Benefit Card Program

Ritchies' Community Benefit Card Program donates a percentage of the money spent in store to your nominated school or charity.

1. Ask for your free Ritchies Community Benefit Card at your nearest Ritchies supermarket or liquor store.

2. Enter the name of the community group that you would like to be the recipient of a donation from Ritchies.

3. Your Ritchies Community Benefit Card will be issued and can be used, immediately!


Rebel Community Kickbacks Program. Under this program, Parkhill Primary School can earn 5% of your purchases at Rebel Sports as an in-store credit to spend on our school sports programs. You can sign up in Store

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