Issue 3 23rd February 2012 Seabrook Primary School 83-105 Point Cook Rd, SEABROOK 3028 Phone: 9395 1758 Fax: 9395 1761 Website: www.seabrook.vic.edu.au Newsletter Sue & Staff From the Principal Dear Parents We are now into our third week of the 2012 school year. The children have had a smooth start into their new classes making new acquaintances and developing cooperate working strategies. Very shortly class 'Essential Agreements' will be sent home so families can discuss together the importance of having agreed upon sets of behaviours and values from which to operate. The entire class work together using the PYP attitudes and the learner profile to create their class agreements to enable optimal learning and develop positive relationships. We will also be sending home year level and specialist areas curriculum overviews. Both documents will be uploaded onto our website once they are complete. MEET THE TEACHER EVENING The first 'meet the teacher' evening (years 1-6) on Tuesday went very well with the majority of parents making appointments. We would strongly encourage any parents yet to make a time to do so before next Wednesday. Teachers will be available for appointments again then and are very keen to make time for a face to face or have phone conversations with all parents to build strong connections to start the year. Prep parents and prep teachers have been meeting informally over the past weeks and will have an evening together in early March. PERSONAL PROPERTY It is important that we remind students, parents and staff that the Education Department (or school) does not take responsibility for loss or damage to personal property. Please note that teachers take due care of items but want to remind children it is unwise to bring precious items to school in case of loss. Lap tops as part of the 1:1 program for children in years 4-6 are covered in general by insurance as signed by parents. CHESS Chess has started again this year for children in years 3-6. Endre is working with some year 3 classes in this block and runs free chess sessions for any interested children on Mondays. BEACH SAFETY PROGRAM The first week of the year 5 & 6 Beach safety program kicked off this week. The children have 2 more weeks of beach safety run by the Williamstown Life Savers. The children absolutely loved the program but returned to school exhausted. We believe it is an important part of the swimming education Program and thank Ms Evans for her organisation and other staff for supporting it. PYP COMMUNITY EVENING Please keep afternoon and early evening free for March 15th so you can take part in our annual PYP Community Evening. MAC BOOK INDUCTION SESSION We are inviting parents of children in year 4 to attend a Mac book induction session this Thursday. It is held in the new building, starting at 6.00 pm. Please bring the Mac book. HATS Wide brim hats Sizes: 55/57/59 Bucket hats Size: Small BACK PACKS $37.00 available for sale at the school office. Remember: No hat..... No play! School Banking Program commenced this week. School Council Elections NOMINATIONS CLOSE TOMORROW Friday 24th February at 5:00pm.
Transcript
Issue 3
23rd February 2012
Seabrook Primary School 83-105 Point Cook Rd, SEABROOK 3028
We are now into our third week of the 2012 school year. The children have had a smooth start into their new classes making new acquaintances and developing cooperate working strategies. Very shortly class 'Essential Agreements' will be sent home so families can discuss together the importance of having agreed upon sets of behaviours and values from which to operate. The entire class work together using the PYP attitudes and the learner profile to create their class agreements to enable optimal learning and develop positive relationships. We will also be sending home year level and specialist areas curriculum overviews. Both documents will be uploaded onto our website once they are complete.
MEET THE TEACHER EVENING The first 'meet the teacher' evening (years 1-6) on Tuesday went very well with the majority of parents making appointments. We would strongly encourage any parents yet to make a time to do so before next Wednesday. Teachers will be available for appointments again then and are very keen to make time for a face to face or have phone conversations with all parents to build strong connections to start the year. Prep parents and prep teachers have been meeting informally over the past weeks and will have an evening together in early March.
PERSONAL PROPERTY It is important that we remind students, parents and staff that the Education Department (or school) does not take responsibility for loss or damage to personal property. Please note that teachers take due care of items but want to remind children it is unwise to bring precious items to school in case of loss. Lap tops as part of the 1:1 program for children in years 4-6 are covered in general by insurance as signed by parents.
CHESS
Chess has started again this year for children in years 3-6. Endre is working with some year 3 classes in this block and runs free chess sessions for any interested children on Mondays.
BEACH SAFETY PROGRAM The first week of the year 5 & 6 Beach safety program kicked off this week. The children have 2 more weeks of beach safety run by the Williamstown Life Savers. The children absolutely loved the program but returned to school exhausted. We believe it is an important part of the swimming education Program and thank Ms Evans for her organisation and other staff for supporting it.
PYP COMMUNITY EVENING Please keep afternoon and early evening free for March 15th so you can take part in our annual PYP Community Evening.
MAC BOOK INDUCTION SESSION
We are inviting parents of children in year 4 to attend a Mac book induction session this Thursday. It is held in the new building, starting at 6.00 pm. Please bring the Mac book.
HATS Wide brim hats
Sizes: 55/57/59
Bucket hats
Size: Small
BACK
PACKS
$37.00
available for
sale at the
school office.
Remember:
No hat.....
No play!
School Banking Program
commenced this week.
School Council Elections
NOMINATIONS CLOSE TOMORROW
Friday 24th February at 5:00pm.
School Council Elections 2012
Information for Parents
School Council Elections 2012 What is a school council and what does it do?
All government schools in Victoria have a school council. They are legally constituted bodies that are given powers to set the key directions of a school within state-wide guidelines. In doing this, a school council is able to directly influence the quality of education that the school provides for its students. Who is on school council?
For most school councils, there are three possible categories of membership:
A mandated elected Parent category - more than one third of the total members must be from this category.
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) employees can be Parent members at their child’s school as long as they are not engaged in work at the school.
A mandated elected DEECD employee category - members of this category may make up no more than one-third
of the total membership of school council. The principal of the school is automatically one of these members.
An optional Community member category - members are coopted by a decision of the council because of their
special skills, interests or experiences. DEECD employees are not eligible to be Community members.
Generally, the term of office for all members is two years. The term of office of half the members expires each year, creating vacancies for the annual school council elections. Why is Parent membership so important?
Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of the school.
Those parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying in itself and may also find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging. How can you become involved?
The most obvious way is to vote in the elections, which are held in Term 1 each year. However, ballots are only held if more people nominate as candidates than there are positions vacant.
In view of this, you might seriously consider
Standing for election as a member of school council.
Encouraging another person to stand for election.
Do I need special experience to be on school council?
No. What you need is an interest in your child’s school and the desire to work in partnership with others to help shape the school’s future. What do you need to do to stand for election?
The principal will issue a Notice of Election and Call for Nominations following the commencement of Term 1 each year. All school council elections must be completed by the end of March unless the usual time has been varied by the Minister.
If you decide to stand for election, you can arrange for someone to nominate you as a candidate or you can nominate yourself in the Parent category.
DEECD employees whose child is enrolled in a school in which they are not engaged in work, are eligible to nominate for parent membership of the school council at that school.
Once the nomination form is completed, return it to the principal within the time stated on the Notice of Election. You will receive a Nomination Form Receipt in the mail following the receipt of your completed nomination.
Generally, if there are more nominations received than there are vacancies on council, a ballot will be conducted during the two weeks after the call for nominations has closed. Remember
Ask at the school for help if you would like to stand for election and are not sure what to do.
Consider standing for election to council this year.
Be sure to vote in the elections.
Contact the principal for further information.
Meet the Teacher Interviews Thanks to the families who attended the Meet the Teacher interviews on Tuesday Feb 21. It was valuable for the staff to learn about your child and for us to work together so that your child has a happy and productive year. We will complete these interviews next Wednesday Feb 29 so please check your appointment slip and we look forward to learning more about your child. Prep parents will attend a Prep Curriculum night on Tuesday March 6.
Ann O’Connor - Assistant Principal
Since beginning term one, students have worked collaboratively with their teachers and peers to develop and embed the attributes of the Learner Profile into everyday life. Students are encouraged to ‘live’ the Learner Profile, with continuous modelling from teachers and all members of staff, together with the attitudes of appreciation, commitment, confidence, cooperation, creativity, curiosity, empathy, enthusiasm, independence, integrity, respect and tolerance. Teachers are encouraged to support students’ interests, build up their self-esteem and confidence, respond to spontaneous events as well as support the development of skills in all cognitive areas in relevant ways.
Children from birth are curious, and the PYP provides a framework that gives crucial support for them to be active inquires and lifelong learners. In Victorian PYP schools, we incorporate the VELS (Victorian Essential Learning Standards) to create a guaranteed and viable curriculum along-side the curriculum of the Primary Years Program. Our major PYP event is our PYP Community Evening which will be on Thursday 15
th March, starting at 5pm. Please see flyer for further informa-
tion. We look forward to seeing you and sharing your children’s learning.
Kerrie O’Brien and Ann O’Connor - PYP Co-ordinators
The children in Grade 1DT have been exploring the P.Y.P. attitudes. We have created posters that explain how we demonstrate the attitudes. All of the children in the class have shown lots of creativity, commitment and independence while completing these tasks. Well done to all of the children in Grade 1DT for their enthusiastic start to 2012.
At Seabrook, our PYP journey began 6 years ago and since embarking on this, there have been many benefits for both our students and teachers. Since then the staff have collaboratively worked to develop this curriculum to benefit the entire Seabrook Primary School community. Teachers have extended their curriculum knowledge and teaching practices and students’ depth of knowledge and understanding have increased as they work through the six structured units of inquiry each year. The PYP focuses on not only teaching concepts and skills, but also on developing actions, values and attitudes.
Through units of inquiry, children are given ownership of the learning process by posing and answering their own questions in relation to the central idea and lines of inquiry. Students are encouraged to actively participate in their own education by setting personal goals and performing self-evaluation and reflection.
A PYP school is a school that strives towards developing an internation-ally minded person, recognising their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, helping to create a better and more peaceful world. According to the IBO, an internationally minded person is a person who demonstrates the attributes of the Learner Profile which are:
Primary Years Programme at Seabrook Primary School
SENIOR LEARNING COMMUNITY NEWS Hello from the 6GJ learning community of fantastic leaders and learners. Let us tell you what we have been working on these past couple of weeks. We have been investigating the PYP Learner Profiles and deciding which ones are the most important for being great leaders. We have also been looking into ‘who we are’ to gain a deep insight into what our strengths are, how we learn best (multiple intelligences), what our goals are and what type of leaders we want to be.
Some examples of our amazing work displayed in our room right now are the ‘Who I am’ Mindmaps and the Leadership Y charts.
Once again, Seabrook Primary School is providing free membership to
Mathletics for all of our students for use both in the classroom and at home.
This powerful internet based, award winning mathematics program is an
exceptional tool in promoting increased confidence, understanding and
enjoyment of mathematics in our students.
Mathletics in an important resource in our classroom numeracy programs. Teachers receive a great deal of useful data from
Mathletics regarding individual student’s participation and progress through the different topics completed both at school and
home. Teachers can individualise Mathletics to suite each student’s ability, interests and learning requirements.
Parents can ensure that your children gets the most out of Mathletics by:
Taking an active role in your child’s mathematics progress,
Encourage your child to use Mathletics at least 3-5 times each week,
Encourage a balance between the Full Curriculum section and Mathletics Live,
Take time to work together with your child. The Support Centre in each activity will help show how to solve a particular
problem,
Encourage your child to complete activities that challenge, rather than those he/she finds easy,
If the level your child is working at is too easy, speak to the class teacher about setting a different default level for your
child,
Celebrate your child’s success, print the certificates out and display them at home.
Mathletics is developing new activities and areas all the time. For more information on Mathletics check the web site or speak to your child’s teacher. Paul Cochran
SCHOOL BANKING NEWS
School Banking has returned – EVERY WEDNESDAY BANKING ON A TUESDAY IS FOR PREPS ONLY
Well done to the 69 Student’s who remembered to bank last week. Grade 3, 4, 5 and 6 will receive their Packs this week. It will contain information on the new rewards they can collect with their Dollarmite Tokens.
You can still redeem your Dollarmite Tokens for a Money Box, Wallet, Drink Bottle, Lunch Box or Watch – while stocks last. The new reward for February is a Handball. If you want to redeem your Dollarmite Tokens for a reward, send in your tokens on a WEDNESDAY and complete the Reward Card with your Name, Class and Student ID. As the rewards need to be ordered, it may take 7 – 14 days to receive them. For every deposit your child makes they will receive ONE Dollarmite Token.
The School Banking program is designed to encourage individual savings behaviour and to help children achieve their savings goals. For this reason pooling of tokens is not allowed. Opening A Youthsaver Account
From 1st January 2012 you can open a School Banking account at any Commonwealth Bank. You no longer need to
complete application forms and return them to school. Just go into any branch and ask to open a Youthsaver account for school banking. Take in identification for you and your child (such as driver’s licence and birth certificate) and you will receive your Dollarmites wallet on the spot – it is that easy! If you are a Commonwealth Bank customer with Netbank you have the option to open the account on line as well! From January 2012 when children make their first deposit they will get their first token and our school will also receive $5 commission. Thank you for supporting our school and teaching your child good savings skills.
Preps will be able to bank on a Tuesday as they will not be attending school on a Wednesday. The Preps banking dates in February and March are Tuesday 28
th February, Tuesday 6
th March and Tuesday 13
th March. The Preps first Wednesday to
bank will be Wednesday 21st March. The Prep Deposit Books will be returned to their teacher on a Thursday.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE TUESDAY BANKING IS FOR PREP STUDENTS ONLY.
Saving regularly is an important habit to get into, whether you’re saving a little or a lot. Keep up the great work and remember to bring in your deposit book each Wednesday. Thank you for supporting the School Banking Program.
Seabrook School Banking Volunteers
Education Maintenance Allowance
EMA application are now open and must be lodged at the school office by: 29 February 2012
Please ensure you bring your Centre link card with you to support your application.
LATE APPLICATIONS CANNOT BE PROCESSED
Sue Joyce EMA Coordinator
ART SHIRTS All children require an art shirt or smock. Many of the activities are quite messy and often the paints, inks, glues
etc do not wash out. An old shirt of Mum or Dad’s does the job very well as they are usually roomy enough for
the children to get on over their school uniform and allow freedom of movement while the children are
working. Long sleeves are definitely preferable as this is where children often get paint on themselves. If you intend to
purchase an art shirt please avoid the plastic ones as they rip very easily, are very hot in the Summer and the children find
them restrictive. Thank you for your assistance with this matter.
Julie Comer- Art Teacher
TAKE HOME A BIG BROTHER OR BIG SISTER Give your children the wonderful opportunity to have an international big brother or big sister by hosting one of our exceptional international students arriving in Australia in July 2012 for their 3, 5 or 10 month programs. Our international students from France, Germany, Italy, Austria Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland will live as a local, attend a local secondary school, arrive with their own spending money and comprehensive insurance cover – all arranged by Southern Cross Cultural Exchange.
Visit us at www.scce.com.au, email [email protected] or call us toll free on 1800 500 501, request our little booklets of international student profiles, and capture the spirit of family and friendship!
Robert Lindsay - Inbound Program Manager Tel: +61 (0)3 9775 4711 Toll Free: 1800 500 501 SOUTHERN CROSS CULTURAL EXCHANGE Fax: +61 (0)3 9775 4971 Post: Locked Bag 1200, Mt Eliza , Victoria , 3930 Web: www.scce.com.au email: [email protected]
TMT MUSIC LESSONS TMT Music Lessons have commenced for Term 1. Welcome back to those students who attended last year, and a big welcome to all new participants! Classes are now full, so there will be no more enrolments for this term. All classes will be held in the After School Care room on Mondays. Parents should have received a confirmation of their child's class time, if you haven't please contact me on 0409 866 665.
To help remind students a list of class times and student names will be placed on the After School Care room window so that children can check it at anytime. If we could also ask parents assistance in reminding your child of their class time on Monday's before they head off to school for the day. TMT Music is an extra curricular activity that you have chosen to enrol your child in, so we really do need your help with this.
Classroom teachers have been made aware of any students in there class groups that have enroled in the music program and will remind them when possible to head off to their music lesson. Announcements and collections are not possible as they interrupt classroom activities. We have tried to group children from the same classes together where possible, so they can help each other to remember their lesson times.
Again, many thanks for your support of TMT Music and your assistance in helping the music program run smoothly.
Happy Singing & Strumming - Michelle Towers
The Grade Two Learning Community is requesting from any parents in the Seabrook community assistance in the making of chair bags for use in the classroom. We can provide the measurements for these chair bags and the material. These chair bags are a great resource for students to house their independent reading books, in close proximity to their work area, in an organised manner. If you are interested, could you please contact the Grade One and Two Learning Community Assistant Principal, Mrs. Carmen Sacco for more details. Thank you for your continued support. Grade Two Learning Community
When sending in money for Incursions, Excursions, Fundraising etc., please send in the correct money and ensure that you have separate envelopes for each separate activity/event. We cannot accept foreign coins or provide change. Parents need to give the correct money in a clearly marked envelope, in the mornings only, to the classroom teacher. Teachers are unable to accept money at the end of the school day as they are unable to leave money in the classroom. Cash payments are not accepted at the office. Parents are welcome to call into the school office to collect a few school payment envelopes to leave at home for this purpose. Alternatively, please ensure that the money is in a
clearly marked envelope with students name, grade and amount and activity/event.
Yvonne Golomb - Administration
PARENT HELPERS If you are able to help out the school in any capacity here at Seabrook PS, we would appreciate your help. This could be helping with fundraising, the childrens sausage sizzle days, Mothers and Fathers Day Stalls etc.
Please email us at [email protected] and we will send you an email when we have forthcoming events where your help would be appreciated.
Younger siblings are also welcome to come along with you on these days.
PARENT CLUB & HELPERS MORNING TEA You are invited to come and join us for morning tea on WEDNESDAY 22ND of FEB at 9AM, Please meet at the office! Younger siblings are most welcome to come along. We will be sorting the first fundraiser of the year and talking about what is happening for the rest of the year. Would love you to join us!
Thank you for your help - Seabrook PS Parent Committee
LOCATION
Seabrook Primary School
Point Cook Rd Seabrook
Enrol now for
2012 Call
Carly Perry
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
20
9.00am Year 4/5/6 Assembly 9am -1pm Grade 5/6 Beach Program
