Parkhill Primary School Newsletter

Dear parents and carers,

This week we commenced our transition program for students who will be joining us at Parkhill in Foundation next year. It was so great to see the children engaged and experiencing a taste of school. It was also lovely to meet new parents joining us for the first time as well as returning parents in the information session held earlier in the week. A big thank you to our Foundation teachers for organising the transition activities and to Michelle Smith for organising and running the parent information sessions. Further transition sessions will be held in coming weeks.

2022 Annual Implementation Plan Priorities

As a result of the significant disruptions over the past two years and the challenges faced by students, staff and school communities, the Department of Education has set a number of common and core priorities schools need to deliver in 2022. Some of our students have thrived in the remote learning environment, others have maintained their learning progress, and some need extra learning and wellbeing support despite the best efforts of their teachers and families. In 2022 we will continue to focus on student learning and student wellbeing – with an increased focus on numeracy. Learning support will continue to be provided with the continuation of the Tutor Learning program.

The Parkhill School Improvement Team has been examining student achievement data which indicates that while we have made great gains in writing, numeracy needs a concerted focus for improvement. This will involve building the capacity of our staff in evidence-based practices, particularly around assessment and differentiation, to ensure consistency.

Reports

Teachers are currently developing Semester Two reports. Due to the challenges of remote learning, the reports will look slightly different. For English and Maths, there will be a short statement of what has been taught as well as an assessment of achievement and progress against the Victorian Curriculum standards. All other curriculum areas will have a statement regarding what has been taught as well as a comment on achievement and progress, however this will not include a judgement against the Victorian Curriculum. A full explanation will be provided in a letter that accompanies the report.

Reminder

Monday (15th November) is a curriculum day – a student free day.

Have a lovely weekend.

David Wells

Monday 15 November - Curriculum Day - students do not attend school on this day

Wednesday 17 November - Foundation Transition Parent Workshop 2

Thursday 18 November - ICAS Science (selected students) & Foundation Transition Session 2 & Scholastic Book Fair begins

Monday 22 November - ICAS Maths (selected students) & Compass Information Session

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

Thursday 25 November - Foundation Transition Session 3

Saturday 27 November - Working Bee

Thursday 2 December - Fun, Food & Carols

Tuesday 7 December - Move Up Day

Friday 10 December - Y2 Sleepover (information to come)

Wednesday 15 December - Y6 Graduation

Thursday 16 December - Y6 Big Day Out

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.

The F/Y1s had a great time creating minibeasts from twigs, leaves, nuts and any other bits and bobs they could find. We think that you will agree that the F/Y1s are a pretty creative bunch!

Anne McGregor

F/Y1 Teacher

The Y2/3 students have been learning about procedural writing. They have explored a number of procedural texts, where they read and wrote about making popcorn and making milo.

This week, the Y2/3s further explored procedural writing by making fairy bread! They first made their fairy bread which helped them organise their ideas into simple steps when writing. They sure did enjoy eating their fairy bread afterwards!

Take a look at some photos and work samples.

Bianca Bevilacqua

Y2/3 Teacher

What a fantastic first transition session we had this week! I was so impressed with the kinder kids as they bravely stepped forwards towards their new adventure in Foundation. Many of them were sporting such big happy smiles while doing so.

Our process with the addition of the Y5 students went really well, so we will follow the same process next week in our second transition session on Thursday at 2pm. More information will be coming out to those families involved. If you do not receive that information by Monday, please let me know.

We plan to hold our second and final online transition workshop for parents on Wednesday 17 November at 2pm. This session is centred more around school connections and there will be an opportunity to ask questions. If you have one ready to go please send it through to us.

We look forward to seeing our new Foundation students and parents next week.

We are also giving our students the chance to win a $10 voucher to use at the Fair. There are 2 activities on offer:

• Foundation to Y2 - colouring activity page

• Y3 to Y6 - design a book cover or complete a book review

Deadline for entries - Wednesday (17/11) morning. A winner will be picked from each year level. 

Please do email me if you have any questions - angelita.williams@education.vic.gov.au.

Hope to see you at the Fair!

Angelita Williams

Librarian

Dear Parkhill Families,

Thank you to those families who have placed orders. Every Book Club order earns Scholastic Rewards for the school to purchase additional resources.

Issues 7 & 8 are now available to order. If you would like to place an order, you will need to do so on the Book Club LOOP platform. It is easy to order and allows you to pay by credit card.

• Click on the respective issue to access the online catalogue:

1. Book Club Issue 7 2021 (cut off date 26 Nov)
2. Book Club Issue 8 2021 (cut off date 1 Dec)

• Place an order at scholastic.com.au/LOOP or using the LOOP app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play

Please do get in touch if you need a hand or have any queries.

Stay safe and well,

Angelita Williams

Librarian

Did you know that Restorative Practices are used in other industries? It is also in criminal justice, social work and counselling, as well as of course in education.

The general principles of working together to restore the harm caused can have real benefits that has significant research behind it.

More information about Restorative Practices (including what it is and is not) can be found at the following website:

https://restorativeschoolsaustralia.org/ 

Policy committee reviewed our finance policies - Cash Handling, Electronic Funds Management and School Purchasing Card. It generated lively discussion as we combed through the policy and updates to finalise our procedure with our special guest expert, Jo.

We also reviewed the Yard Duty and Supervision policy. This policy is reviewed yearly and then communicated to all involved so that procedures and protocols are transparent.

Supervision occurs through a rigorous set of procedures. This incorporates moving methodically, being alert and vigilant, enforcing behavioural standards set out in the Student Engagement and Wellbeing policy and the Parkhill Community Essential Agreement, logging incidents and communicating with staff members if relevant. The procedures can be found in full in our Yard Duty and Supervision policy.

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

Last week you would have received an email with the 2022 Parent Payments for each year level. These forms can be found below. Each form is slightly different, so please make sure you read and return the correct form for your child!

If you have processed a payment via BPAY, could you please return the 2022 Parent Payments form or email us detailing what the payments are for so they can be processed correctly.

Executive Committee:

President: Rossanne Clay                  

Vice President: Kylie Brown

Temp Treasurer: TBA

Temp Secretary/Communications: Trish King

Temp Council Liaison: Elle Delmee

General Members: Vanessa Cowley, Marinda Tanner, Jo Argaet, Sumi Sundram, Kylie Touloupis

SOCK FUNDRAISER

The PFA is doing a SOCK fundraiser! A great gift idea with fun designs available for every size foot.

Socks are $9.95 per pair with free shipping!

Parkhill will receive $1 from every pair sold and we receive a bonus if we sell 100 pairs. Now that’s a goal worth aiming for!

Order yours before 19th November for Christmas delivery.

FUN, FOOD & CAROLS

On Thursday 2nd December, Parkhill Primary School will be hosting the annual Fun, Food & Carols night for the school community. It’s a celebration where we come together to eat, laugh and sing before the holidays.

We will hold a sausage sizzle, ice-cream stall, bake stall, plus other food and gift stands. Our choir will lead us in singing carols, there will be STEAM activities for the kids and a free petting zoo. For a gold coin donation you can do face painting, dunk-a-teacher, or jump on the bouncy castle. We’ll also have a special visit from Santa!

HELP OUR PARKHILL COMMUNITY

We have missed our school connection but now we have a golden opportunity to rebuild, recharge and reconnect. It all starts by helping us make this event fun for our young ones and building a stronger community in the process.

You can help by bringing friends and family and spreading the word. You could also help by:

Lending us any of the following items:

●     2x large eskies

●     Any size marquee

●     Face paints

Donating:

●     Items for the raffle

●     Items for the PFA bric-a-brac sale

Volunteering using this signup link https://signup.com/go/dhuZFdw for:

●     Setup crew

●     Packdown crew

●     Face painting

●     Baking for the bake stall

●     BBQ cook/seller

●     Food seller

●     Dunking machine/jumpy castle monitor

Becoming a stall holder - here are some details:

The market will run from 5.00pm – 7.30pm. If you are interested in being a stall holder, or know of someone who would like to hold a stall, please make contact with Rossanne Clay at parents.friends.secretary@gmail.com or 0480 171 847.

Cost of Stalls:

• Stalls selling non food & drink related items - $20

• Stalls selling food & drinks - $30

• Student stalls - $10

JOIN OUR PARKHILL PFA

Some of our PFA members have family matters they are taking care of during this time. It’s unlikely they will be able to fill their roles through to the end of the year. So we are looking for new members to help us fill roles temporarily til the end of the year and permanently for next year.

We need a temporary treasurer who has a money handling police check to help with Fun, Food & Carols.

And we need permanent roles for the following for next year:

• Treasurer who does the purchases and cash handling for us
• PFA Representative on school council who attends both PFA meetings and School Council meetings
• Secretary who does our newsletter for us each week
• PR who takes care of our Facebook page and gathers photos to create updates about our events

If you would like to try the Treasurer role til the end of the year our growing team would be very grateful - and if you would like to consider a permanent role for next year, we would welcome you with open arms!

Please contact Rossanne on 0480 171 847 or parents.friends.secretary@gmail.com