Virginia Primary School Newsletter

Dear Families,

Chuc Mung Nam Moi to all our families who celebrated their New Year a couple of weeks ago. Congratulations also to our student lion dancers who did a remarkable job at our assembly - well done! Here at VPS, we enjoy learning about and celebrating our different cultures.

Last week our Year 6/7’s headed off to Woodhouse for a 3 day camp. To say there was excitement (and some nerves) in the air on Monday would be an understatement. The learning intention of camp is to build team-work, resilience and communication skills. Students were involved in a range of activities whilst on camp; including Laser Skirmish, Challenge Hill obstacles and a variety of team-building activities. 

I asked one of the classes to describe the camp in one word, the following were some of their responses - fantastic, excellent, fun, spectacular, tiring, amazing, brilliant, collaborative, challenging and super! On Tuesday night, Mrs Thuy went up to the Woodhouse campsite to witness how the camp was going first-hand. She was impressed with the way the students carried themselves and were interacting with one another which was great to hear.

I'd also like to congratulate our Student Voice Leaders for 2021 and look forward to listening to their ideas and thoughts on how we can improve our school and make a difference. We take our student voice seriously, and value their contributions each year.

Congratulations also to all our award recipients who received a values award at our last assembly. Our school values are integral here at VPS and we pride ourselves on our 'positive close school community culture' whereby we look after one another. We are planning on sharing and acknowledging all our award recipients throughout the year with you in our newsletters as well as at our assemblies. 

Naplan will take place online this year. We will be having a coordinated practice test on March 25th at 11:00am South Australian time. We will continue to keep you informed once we receive more information.

Lastly, I will leave you with the following; 'How was your day?'... This is the most commonly asked question I hear from parents/ caregivers. Whilst a great question, I’m betting that more than 80% of the time you are lucky to get a three word answer such as “It was OK”, “It was good”, and so forth. How about you try asking the question, “Tell me one thing you enjoyed or learnt today?” This at least gets children to think and might even help open up a fantastic discussion.

Until next time, please take care and enjoy some photos from our assembly and camp.

Learning Together, Learning For Our Future.

Warmest Regards,

Voula Pounendis

Hunting for the good – Student Shout outs!

Here at Virginia Primary school we not only want to create an environment for quality teaching and learning, but we also strive to create a culture which cultivates an environment to support student wellbeing and help children flourish! Expressing gratitude and celebrating the good are paramount when it comes to building wellbeing. This year at Virginia PS, we want to build whole school wellbeing by being more grateful of each other and celebrating the good stuff!

Recently, we have started to ‘hunt for the good!’ Staff have been on the hunt to notice and acknowledge the good things students do within our school. Students modelling our school values are receiving ‘shout outs’ in our morning student news announcements. We have had shout outs for students taking the initiative to clean up the yard, for helpful and kind behaviours to peers and are hoping to spot more and more things throughout the year!

Well done to the following students who have received a student news shout out so far!

-Imogen K (Room 11) – Picking up rubbish when walking through the asphalt without anyone asking

-Kevin B (Room 12) – Kind, helping, and supportive behaviours while in room 9

-Varvara D (Room 10) + Scarlett M (Room 11) – Caring for our school environment with lunchtime yard cleaning together

-Lisa H (Room 11) + Jordan M (Room 10)  – Collecting the bucket and pickers during lunchtime to pick up rubbish as a team

We are so grateful for so many students taking the initiative to care for our school environment and tidying up the yard. This has been a focus for us as a school and every person who chips in makes a difference! Well done!

Dental for Schools is based in South Australia and focuses its efforts on providing easy access to dental check-ups and treatments to families in our area. The program was designed to reduce tooth decay in South Australia as well as remove the fear and stigma of visiting the dentist. They pride them selves on providing the highest quality dental treatment.

Their vehicles are fitted out with state of the art dental equipment and include entertainment systems with classic movies and music, providing a stress-free and relaxing atmosphere for everyone.

Each check-up appointment includes a comprehensive oral examination, removal of plaque and calculus, diagnostic x-rays (If required), preventative fluoride treatment and a dental care plan. They also provide information to patients about the importance of maintaining great oral health. Their services are provided by highly trained staff in a fun, relaxed environment to ensure every patient has a great experience visiting the dentist. 

Please complete and return the consent / medical history form that your child will bring home if you would like your child to receive a dental check up. Forms must be signed by a parent or guardian and returned to school by Monday 15th March. The clinic will then visit on Tuesday 6th April . 

Please ensure you also enter your child/children's medicare details on each individual form if you have more than one child. Alternatively you can follow the link to the online online application form.

https://www.dentalforschools.com.au/forms

Congratulations to all the students selected to be student voice leaders!

Our student voice leaders met in week three to discuss their new roles and responsibilities for the year ahead. We are excited to have such a passionate and enthusiastic group of leaders ready to make a difference in 2021.

The first thing on their agenda will be working towards making a difference to the school environment. The student voice leaders will be looking at school new tidying initiatives and mural design ideas for our school. We look forwards to seeing our leaders flourish in 2021!

Invoices for the 2021 Materials & Services Charges have been mailed home.  If you haven’t received an invoice, please contact our Front Office.  The last day to pay your charges is Thursday the 8th of April 2021 – the last Thursday of term 1.  The Materials & Services Charge for 2021 is $246.

If you are a low income earner, please apply for School Card online at sa.gov.au/education/schoolcard. This needs to be applied for every year as the assessment of your income is based on the previous financial year.

You can access the online forms from any device that has internet access including mobile devices, such as tablets and smart phones, as well as laptops and computers.  Applying online is easy – simply follow the steps below.

1.   Visit sa.gov.au/education/schoolcard

2.   Select the type of School Card you would like to apply for (for example ‘Type A’) and follow the prompts

3.   Complete all mandatory fields (please note you cannot proceed to the next page unless all mandatory fields are complete)

4.   Once you have completed a page click on the ‘NEXT’ button

5.   Once you have filled out all pages click the ‘SUBMIT’ button (please note if you exit the form without clicking ‘SUBMIT’ your details will be lost)

6.   You can save the form and return to complete it at another time by clicking on the ‘SAVE’ button.

https://www.sa.gov.au/…/financial-help-s…/school-card-scheme

If you require further help please see our Front Office staff who are happy to help.