Lyndale Greens PS Newsletter

May 13 2022

Dates to Remember:

Monday   16 May    Education Support Personnel  Day

Friday        20 May    District Cross Country

Friday       27 May    Pirate Day

Principal Report

 Education Support Personnel (ESP) Day

Monday 16th May is Education Support Personal (AKA Extraordinarily Skilled People) Day. On behalf of the school, I would like to thank our ES staff - from the classrooms, to the grounds, to the office - for the vital work they do. Everyday, they make a significant impact on our students’ lives and the running of the school. LGPS simply wouldn’t be what it is without them!

We will have a special morning tea on Monday to celebrate, but if your family would like to say thank you to an ES staff member, I’m sure it would make their day particularly special!

 

Thank you, Mary

Another vital role in our school is that of our crossing supervisors. In two weeks, we say goodbye to Mary, who makes sure our students are safe when crossing Oakwood Avenue. Mary has been a school crossing supervisor for 32 years! We will be sure to acknowledge Mary’s service to our community in the coming weeks – she will be missed. Just like our ES staff, I’m sure Mary would appreciate students and families taking the time to say, “Thank you.”

 

District Cross Country

On Friday 20th May, a number of students will represent LGPS at the District Cross Country at Tatterson Park in Keysborough. Parents and carers are welcome to attend and watch their children run.

Thank you to Brian Wright for his organisation and to the support staff. Good luck to all of our runners!

 

NAPLAN

Well done to our Grades 3 and 5 students, families and staff (particularly our NAPLAN coordinator, Leonie Haggett) for the manner in which they have tackled the NAPLAN tests this week – you’re nearly there everyone!

This is the first year that the tests have been online nationwide, and I am very happy to report that our ICT infrastructure has stood up to enable tests to be completed without issue. Thank you to Tom Krawczyk for his coordination.

A NAPLAN report will be issued for each student later in the year. It is important to remember that NAPLAN provides a snapshot of where students were performing at that time and on that given day. It is just one aspect of our commitment to making informed judgments using multiple sources of data, and summative and formative assessments to support every student.

 

Staffing

It is highly likely that our school will continue to experience workforce pressures at different periods during this term. Our school’s leadership team will continue to maximise the use of our available resources, and sincerely thank our staff for their goodwill, flexibility and professionalism; and our parents, carers and students for your understanding and patience. Although grade share (‘splits’) are something we try to avoid, it is a reality now for the large majority of schools, given the extreme shortage of available replacement teaching staff in the system.

 

School Council

We are seeking a parent to fill a casual vacancy on School Council. Meetings occur twice per term, and members of School Council can attend the meetings via Webex if needed. The next meeting will take place in the final week of May, with a day to be confirmed.

The role of parents on School Council is vital in setting the direction of learning, and allocation of funding towards events and facilities. The value of parent input into these meetings for feedback, discussion and a comprehensive view of parent opinions on school issues is highly important. Any parent who is interested is strongly encouraged to contact the school or see me directly.

 Have a great weekend!

 Ryan Forte

Principal

Ahoy Me Hearties! - Pirate Day

On Friday 27th May, Junior School Council is hosting Pirate Day at LGPS.

Come to school dressed as a pirate!

Bring a gold coin donation along with your eye patches!

Pirate Day is an annual national day of dressing up to raise awareness and vital funds for childhood brain cancer research so all money raised with be donated to this important cause.

We can’t wait to see your costumes!

Junior School Council, Miss Frey & Mrs McGuinness

 

Cold and Flu Season

Dear parents and carers

With borders opening and the arrival of colder weather, cases of influenza (the flu) are increasing throughout Victoria. Our community is at risk of higher rates of students and staff affected by the flu or COVID-19 this season.

 What to do if your child gets sick

To help keep your child and our school community safe, please take the following steps if your child has any cold or flu-like symptoms:

·      take a COVID-19 test and follow the current Department of Health isolation requirements if a positive result is shown

·      keep your child at home until their symptoms pass

·      common flu-like symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose, loss of appetite, body aches and feeling extremely weak and tired

·      diagnosis of the flu can only be confirmed by a doctor after a nose or throat swab

·      encourage your child to wash their hands regularly and ask them to cover their nose and mouth when sneezing and coughing.

 COVID-19 vaccination

COVID-19 vaccines are available free of charge to everyone aged 5 years and over in Australia.

It is important that children and young people have the best possible protection against the flu and COVID-19 by getting vaccinated.

Ensuring your children are protected against serious illness helps to protect everyone in our community, including older family members who may be at higher risk, along with younger children who can’t receive vaccinations yet.

You can book COVID-19 vaccinations through the COVID-19 hotline on 1800 675 398 or at a participating GP, pharmacy, or community health service.

 Flu vaccination

Flu vaccination is recommended for everyone aged 6 months and over.  Some people are more at risk of complications from the flu and are eligible for free vaccination under the National Immunisation Program including:

·           anyone aged 65 years and older

·           pregnant women (at any stage of pregnancy)

·           all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged from 6 months and over

·           people 6 months or older with:

o    heart disease

o    chronic lung disease (including people with severe asthma who require frequent hospital visits)

o    chronic neurological conditions

o    impaired immunity

o    haemoglobinopathies (blood disorders caused by genetic changes)

o    diabetes

o    kidney disease

·           children on long-term aspirin therapy from 6 months to 10 years

·           children aged from 6 months to under 5 years.

Flu vaccinations can be booked through GPs and pharmacies, many of which can also provide COVID-19 vaccinations. If you would like more information about the flu vaccination, visit the Better Health Channel.

Kind regards

Ryan Forte

Grade 2 made Mother's Day Gifts

Student of the Week

Prep A      Elizabeth Robin - Can independently write 'I like dogs because' and give her reasons when completing her persuasive writing. Great work!

Prep B      Keyshia Nonmathinathan - for learning how to spell the word 'because' and use it in a sentence when completing her persuasive writing.  Well done!

1A              Alaina Shyju for confidently reading a text and answering comprehension questions. Well done Alaina!

1B              Kayana Choudhary - Congratulations to Kayana for showing an excellent understanding of time. Kayana can tell the time to the hour. Well done Kayana!

1/2A           Yusuf Adam for working really hard during Maths last week. You can now tell the time to the 'o'clock'. Keep up the great work Yusuf!

2A              Amaya Fay for acting out a play titled 'The Little Red Hen.  You were confident and played the role of the hen beautifully!

2B              Avreen Kaur- for your fantastic compound sentences. Well done Avreen!

3D              Sepehr Soofi for the care taken when planning and writing his narrative “Imagine”.

4A              Sujay - for showing excellent growth on his PAT Reading and Maths assessment. You should be extremely proud of your efforts Sujay!

                   Noah - for successfully using directional language, compass points and grid references to explain travel routes.

5A              Madonna Vallonthaiel for completing excellent work in class and being a kind and supportive member of the class. Well done Madonna.

5B              Ashmitha John for creating fantastic noun groups in Writing. You did a great job identifying nouns and adding interesting describers. Well done!

6C              Fatima for outstanding sportsmanship at Gala Day.

Language:    Joselina IOANE-URI 04C  For always remembering to greet the teacher with lovely manners in Indonesian. Bagus!

 

Jewel SAJU 06C - Always finishing her Indonesian tasks to a very high standard and for including extra ideas to make her Indonesian sentences more complex! 

Skoolbag is shutting down soon!

Skoolbag will be deactivated in the next week or so, so please download the Sentral Parents app to your device now and register to use it. (Please use the same email address as the one you receive emails from the school.)

The new Sentral Parents App

Please Download and register an account. Your family key will be provided at a later date.

New App for Parents

Throughout term 2-3 we will be transitioning from our Skoolbag app to a new app called Sentral for Parents. 

More information about the new app will be provided during this term. 

Here is a link to see some features of the app. 

https://www.sentral.com.au/parents

You will receive a letter showing you how to add your child to the app however you can now complete the first step by downloading it from your App Store anytime. Just search for "Parents" in the:

Apple (app store) - Click here to download to iOS device

Android (Play store) - Click here to download to samsung/oppo/LG/Pixel android device

You will be able to receive notifications about newsletters and other things before you add your 'Family Key'

In the meantime if you need to send an absence notification to the school you can :

If we need to send a notice out digitally or notify you of something then we will send an email to your email address. 

 

In some cases you may receive a txt message to your mobile phone. 

If you have any questions or need assistance then please call the school or see Mr. Krawczyk up at the office.  Thank you for your patience and understanding while we transition to Sentral Parent App.

Tom Krawczyk

Digital Technologies Leader

CSEF 2022

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments for eligible students to attend camps, sports and excursions.

 If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.

 $125 per year is paid for eligible primary school students. Payments are made directly to the school and are linked to the student.

 Your Centrelink Card must be valid on 31 January 2022 to apply. Please bring your card with you when you apply.

If you did NOT complete an application form at the beginning of the year, please come to the school office with your card as soon as possible.